he Story 
srs Passion 




ES H.LEESON 



Class _ 
Book._. 
Copyright N° 



The Story of Christ's Passion 



The Story of Christ's Passion 

By 

CHARLES H. LEESON, S. T. B., D. C. L. 





CINCINNATI: JENNINGS AND PYE 
NEW YORK: EATON AND MAINS 



COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY 
JENNINGS AND PYE 



Li r / RARY mi CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

MAR 23 1904 

Cevytjeht Entry ^ 
CLASS ft XXc No, 



TO 

HENRY W. AND SARAH LEESON 

THIS VOLUME 
IS DEDICATED WITH AFFECTION 

BY THE AUTHOR 



CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 

I. The Triumphal Entry, - - - n 

II. Cleansing the Father's House, - 26 

III. The Last and Greatest Day of the 

Public Ministry of Jesus, - - 39 

IV. Christ Our Passover, - - 57 
V. The Arrest and Trial of Jesus, - 78 

VI. The Crucifixion of Christ, - 102 

VII. The Thorn-Crowned King, - - 119 

VIII. The Risen Christ, - - - 130 



THE EVENTS OF PASSION WEEK 



(Jewish days are to be reckoned from sunset to sunset.) 



Roman Days. 


Jewish Day 


s» 


Leading Events of the Day* 


Sat., 


^larch 


3 1 - 


Sun., Nisan 


g. 


Sabbath at Bethany. — Evening 










Simon's Banquet. 


Sun., 


April 


i. 


Mon., " 


IO. 


Palm Sunday. — The Triumphal 


Mon., 




2. 


Tues., " 


II. 


The Cleansing of the Temple. 


Tues., 




3- 


Wed., " 


12. 


The Last and Greatest Day of the 












Public Ministry of Jesus. 


Wed., 




4- 


Thur., " 


13- 


Jesus and Disciples in Retire- 












ment. 


Thur., 




5- 


Sat., 


15- 


Retirement until Evening. — The 








Last Supper. 


Thur., 




5- 


Sat., 


15- 


Midnight.— The Arrest and Trial 








of Jesus. 


Fri., 




6. 


Sat., 


15- 


The Crucifixion. 


Sat., 




7- 


Sun., " 


16. 


Jesus Rests in the Tomb. 


Sun., 




8. 


Mon., " 


17- 


The Resurrection. 


Fri., 


May 


17- 


Thur., Sivan 


3- 


The Ascension. 


Sun., 


it 


27. 


Sat., 


I 3- 


Pentecost. 



I. 



THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY 

(Sunday, Aprii, i, A. D. 30.) 

"Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the 
Lord"— MM. xxi, 9. 

The; raising of Lazarus, the crowning miracle 
in the public ministry of the Son of man, hastened 
the events which culminated in the crucifixion. 
"The chief priests and Pharisees" could find no 
evidence with which to refute Christ's popular 
favor. The people believed in Him. The rulers, 
because He promised opposition to their hated 
and selfish practices, "took counsel together for 
to put Him to death." (John xi, 53.) 

For this reason, almost immediately after the 
resurrection of Lazarus, "Jesus walked no more 
openly among the Jews, but went into a country 
near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, 
and there continued with His disciples." In this 
quiet retreat the twelve were instructed until "the 

11 



12 Story of Christ's Passion 



time was come that He should be received up," 
when He began to say to the disciples, "Behold, 
we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are 
written by the prophets concerning the Son of 
man shall be accomplished." (Luke xviii, 31.) 

The words fell on their ears with increasing 
sadness. His heart, under the impulse of an 
undying love, was firmly and resolutely bent on 
the way of the cross. Peter felt that he could 
not endure such shame to befall his Master. "Be 
it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto 
Thee." (Matt, xvi, 22.) With impressive ear- 
nestness the Master rejected the temptation: 
"Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an of- 
fense unto Me ; for thou savorest not the things 
that be of God, but those that be of men." He 
was conscious that His suffering was the express 
will of His Heavenly Father. No entreaty of 
loving friends, no menace from heartless enemies, 
could longer deter Him from His purpose. The 
blood-thirsty council at Jerusalem was already 
concocting schemes of cruel treachery and death. 
But His heart was fixed, "Behold, we go up to 
Jerusalem," and though another Red Sea should 



The: Triumphal Entry 13 



break in foam at His feet, though an hundred 
councils and a multitude of deaths awaited Him, 
yet He will "go up to Jerusalem," and accomplish 
the Father's will. 

With this spirit, Jesus recrossed the Jordan, 
and the little company again stood on Judean soil. 
Behind Him were Perea and Galilee, the scenes 
of His ministry by word and deed; before Him 
the final act of His life. Having been rejected 
as the Messiah of His people, He turned toward 
Jerusalem "to give His life a ransom for many.' 5 
He was coming, not as the priests expected, 
who desired that His first appearance should be 
announced to them, but openly, at the head of 
His apostles, and followed by a long caravan 
of pilgrims to the Holy City for the Feast of 
the Passover. 

The first station reached was Jericho, a great 
commercial and military center, about fifteen 
miles from Jerusalem. It was the fairy-land of 
Palestine. Its walls and the ampitheater had been 
built by Herod; Archelaus had erected a new 
palace with splendid gardens. All around the 
feathery palms waved in stately splendor; while 



14 Story of Christ's Passion 

gardens of roses and sweet-scented balsam made 
the air fragrant with perfume. About six miles 
to the east, the tortuous Jordan rolls its waters 
toward the Sea of Judgment. Far across the 
river rose the mountains of Moab, tinting the 
sky with their purple and violet hues. Toward 
Jerusalem and northward stretch those bar- 
ren limestone hills, with frequent hiding places 
for the many thieves and robbers who infest 
the w r ay. Cast over this varied scene of many- 
colored splendor a mantle of perpetual summer, 
and fill the streets with a motley throng of pil- 
grims, priests, soldiers, traders, courtiers, busy 
publicans, and wild fanatics, and we have a pic- 
ture of Jericho as the Master entered its streets. 

According to custom, when a festive band 
passed through a place, the inhabitants thronged 
the streets to bid their brethren welcome; more 
especially that afternoon when the great Prophet 
of Nazareth, who had wrought so many won- 
derful works, marched at the head of festive 
columns. Men — curious, angry, half-convinced; 
women holding up their babes, it may be for 
a passing blessing, or pressing their children for- 



The: Triumphal Entry 



l 5 



ward that they might see the Prophet; traders, 
soldiers — a solid mass of onlookers before the 
garden walls along the road by which Jesus "was 
to pass." The multitude were all astir with ex- 
pectation: would He work a miracle, or teach, 
or silently pass on toward Bethany? The "chief 
of the publicans/' the head of the tax and cus- 
toms department, was there. The name of this 
Jewish publican, Zaccheus, the "just," or "pure," 
seemed like mockery to his brethren. He desired 
"to see who Jesus was," and being unable to look 
over the shoulders of others, climbed one of those 
wide-spreading sycamores that grew by the way- 
side. 

As the Great Teacher passed, He looked up 
and said, "Zaccheus, make haste, and come down ; 
for to-day I must abide at thy house." (Luke 
xix, 5.) In an instant he was on the ground, and 
welcomed Jesus to his hospitality. The thought 
of such a guest crossing his threshold roused 
his better nature. "Behold, Lord, the half of my 
goods I give to the poor: and if I have taken 
anything from any man by false accusation, I re- 
store him fourfold." 



16 Story of Christ's Passion 



The act of faith which won for Zaccheus the 
blessed encomium, "This day is salvation come to 
this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abra- 
ham," was not understood by the mutltitude, who 
murmured, "He has gone in defiance of the law 
and of public and patriotic duty to lodge with the 
chief publican." 

During this stay in Jericho, Jesus repeated 
the parable of the "rich young nobleman who had 
gone into a far country to receive for himself 
a kingdom, and to return." The parable was 
founded upon current history. Archelaus had 
recently set out for Rome, probably from Jericho, 
to obtain investiture of the kingdom left to him 
by his father, Herod, and the Jews had sent a 
fruitless embassy after him, to prevent his obtain- 
ing it, as the gift of the Roman senate. 

In the morning, as Jesus neared the gate of 
Jericho, on His way toward Jerusalem, two blind 
beggars learned of His approach. Bartimeus, 
encouraged because at Jerusalem Jesus had healed 
a man who was born blind, cried, "Jesus, Thou 
Son of David, have mercy on me." (Luke xviii, 
38.) The people tried to silence him, but the more 



The: Triumphal Entry 17 



he cried for mercy, until Jesus commanded him 
to be brought to Him, and healed him of his in- 
firmity. 

Advancing, there was almost a continuous as- 
cent for fifteen miles from Jericho to Jerusalem, 
from nine hundred feet below to nearly three 
thousand feet above the Mediterranean. There 
were frequent narrow defiles and rocky caverns 
which became the scene of that wonderful lesson 
of charity and human brotherhood, as the keeper 
of the khan cared for a poor pilgrim who had 
been robbed and left wounded and bleeding by 
some of the many bandits who found their hiding- 
place in these rocky fortresses. 

Contrary to expectation, Jesus arrived in Beth- 
any at the head of festive pilgrims six days before 
the passover. The news of His arrival quickly 
spread, and multitudes flocked from Jerusalem, 
not only to look upon Him, but to see Lazarus, 
whom he had raised from the dead. 

In the evening of that quiet stay in Bethany 
over the Jewish Sabbath occurred the feast at the 
house of Simon, the leper, given in honor of Jesus, 
at which Mary, prompted by the deepest emotion, 
2 



i8 Story of Christ's Passion 

determined to give some expression of her regard. 
"Her faith/' says Dr. Alfred Edersheim, "made 
it a twofold anointing — that of the best Guest at 
the last feast and that of preparation for that 
burial which, of all others, she apprehended so 
terribly near/' With this spirit she broke the 
well-closed vessel of genuine spikenard and 
poured its precious contents over His head and 
feet, then humbly bowed and wiped His feet with 
her loosened tresses. "And the house was filled," 
and to all time His house, the Church, is filled 
"with the odor of the ointment." 

The guests were deeply moved by Mary's sig- 
nificant act. Only in the bosom of Judas was 
there a note of discord : "Why was not this oint- 
ment sold for three hundred pence and given 
to the poor?" What selfishness that could not 
appreciate the love that provided such a costly 
gift for another, because it placed nothing in the 
bag of which he was the custodian ! Such souls 
sell themselves for gain ; but Jesus said, "Let her 
alone; against the day of My burying hath she 
kept this." 

The last glimpse of sweet rest was over as the 



The; Triumphal Entry 19 



sun began to tip with evening splendor Olivet's 
brow. The Jewish Sabbath was passed, and Jesus 
determined to show Himself more openly and 
assume the supreme dignity of the Messiah by 
making a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the first 
act in that greatest of earthly tragedies. He had 
been more and more plainly revealing Himself 
as the Head of the kingdom of God. But as yet 
He had made no public or official declaration of 
His Messiahship, and, until that was done, there 
still wanted a formal proclamation of His king- 
dom before Israel and the world. Till that was 
accomplished the head of the moribund theocracy 
could not be said to have had the choice, as the 
representatives of the religious past, of openly 
accepting or definitely rejecting Him. 

It was customary for pilgrims from various 
sections to make public entries into Jerusalem 
before their great feasts, and Jesus, adopting this 
custom, determined to make His triumphal entry 
as Israel's Messiah-King. Hitherto He had en- 
tered the Holy City on foot, as the poor and de- 
spised Son of Joseph, but now, in royal splendor, 
as did David and the judges. He sent, therefore, 



2o Story of Christ's Passion 



two of His disciples to Bethphage to loose and 
bring to Him a colt that was there tied with its 
mother. We see the superhuman breaking 
through the lowliness of the Savior's form as He 
says, "If any man ask you, Why do you loose 
him, thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord 
hath need of him." (Luke xix, 31.) And the 
disciples found all as He had said. 

As they passed down the slopes of Olivet, with 
its clusters of fig, almond, and olive trees, soon 
to burst into leaf, and its stately and ever-green 
palms, the news rapidly spread among the vil- 
lagers and pilgrims. Great multitudes soon 
thronged the pathway, who, seeing the enthusiasm 
of the disciples, became eager to do Him honor. 
They spread their outer garments in the way, 
broke fronds from the palm-trees to form a mo- 
mentary carpet, as the ever-increasing multitude 
raised to a higher and higher pitch the hosanna 
of welcoming praise. 

Gradually the multitude ranged themselves in 
triumphal procession as they swept down the 
slopes of Olivet to where they could get a glimpse 
of the Holy City, which set their hearts aglow 



The: Triumphal Entry 21 



with Davidic praises to David's greatest Son. 
"Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is He 
that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna 
in the highest !" 

The broken utterances of "Hosanna," "Save 
now," and "Blessed is He that cometh in the 
name of the Lord," from the one hundred and 
eighteenth Psalm, formed the responses of the 
people during their most solemn feasts, or were 
chanted to welcome festive pilgrims on their ar- 
rival in Jerusalem. But as the shout rang through 
the long defile, it carried evidences far and wide 
that Israel's King had really come. The Phari- 
sees, seeing they could prevail nothing, besought 
Jesus that He would curb the honest zeal of His 
followers. Up to this time Jesus remained silent, 
but now, touched by their envy, He pointed to the 
rocks and stones, declaring to those blind leaders 
of Israel that if the people should hold their peace 
the very stones in the path and the rocks in the 
wall would become vocal with praise. 

As the procession advanced they entered the 
valley of Kedron, and, coming in full view of 



22 Story of Christ's Passion 



the city, Jesus "wept over it," as He beheld the 
Jerusalem which exalted itself to His vision, with 
the camp of the enemy on every side, pressing 
closer and closer, and the Jerusalem which exalted 
itself that beautiful spring day. By the time they 
reached the walls the whole city was stirred with 
excitement. The excitable and fickle populace 
rushed toward the temple-mount. Everywhere 
the tramp of feet, and the shout of glad hosannas 
brought men, women, and children into the streets 
or to the housetops. The city was stirred as 
never before, as from mouth to mouth passed the 
eager question, "Who is He ?"' "Is He really the 
Messiah?" His own countrymen, as they came 
in contact with the stern and cruel hostility of 
the citadel, declared, "This is Jesus, the Prophet 
of Nazareth." 

The actual procession would not proceed 
farther than the foot of Mount Moriah, beyond 
which they might not advance in traveling array, 
or pass with dusty feet. Before they reached the 
Shushan gate of the temple they would disperse, 
as Jesus quietly entered its sacred inclosure. The 
Lord whom they sought had suddenly come to 



The: Triumphal Entry 23 



His temple, even the Messenger of Truth, but 
they neither recognized nor delighted in Him. 

As He entered the Father's house, the children 
of the temple, in their innocent delight, continued 
the loud hosannas which had welcomed Him into 
the city. The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees 
were unable to restrain them. The whole world 
had gone after Him. Hate waged against hate, 
as they angrily called His attention to the accla- 
mations of the children, "Hearest Thou what these 
say?" But Jesus protected them from such un- 
wonted wrath. "Yea, have ye not read, Out of 
the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast per- 
fected praise?" 

This day of the Redeemer's triumph was 
marked by one more interesting event. A number 
of Greeks who had been deeply moved came to 
Philip, desiring an interview with Jesus. After 
consulting Andrew, the two disciples made known 
their wish. Christ replied that as a grain of wheat 
must die before it brought forth fruit, so the way 
to His glorification lay through suffering, and 
that they who would be His disciples must be 
willing to law down their lives for His sake. 



24 Story of Christ's Passion 

These men had scarcely retired when a new 
token of Divine favor made itself manifest. Jesus, 
conscious of His triumph over every enemy of 
the human soul, said, "Father, glorify Thy name." 
Then a voice from heaven was heard saying, "I 
have both glorified it and will glorify it again." 
All did not understand the words. Some said it 
"thundered;" others said, "An angel spake to 
Him;" but Jesus said, "This voice came not be- 
cause of Me, but for your sakes," for the judg- 
ment of the world and its conviction of sin was 
now at hand, and the Prince of this world should 
be cast out. 

The day closed with a certain sense of sad- 
ness and rejection. His enemies were eager for 
His arrest; His friends were rejoicing and con- 
fident. "He went out unto Bethany with the 
twelve," and in all probability escaped the obser- 
vation of the multitude by spending the night in 
the open-air, wrapped in their outer garments 
beneath the shade on the olive-sprinkled slopes of 
Olivet. It was a quiet and peaceful retirement 
after the day of triumph and the hour of rejection. 
The God-man, who needed neither pomp nor pur- 



The Triumphal Entry 25 



pie, or the gayly-decked warhorse, or ribboned 
magnates and dignitaries to attest to His dignity, 
could calmly and peacefully rest at the close of 
such a triumph. He had fulfilled the Old Tes- 
tament type of the Messiah, with an entire absence 
of pomp and display. He needed no insignia to 
mark His glorious way. The innocent proclaimed 
His triumph, and to the end of time all nations 
and all people who shall learn of His marvelous 
love will join in the glad acclaim, "Hosanna to 
the Son of David, hosanna in the highest !" 



II 



CLEANSING THE FATHER'S HOUSE 

(Monday, April 2, A. D. 30.) 

"Jesus cast out all them that sold and bought in 
the temple" — Matt, xxi, 12. 

In the early morning of the second day of 
Passion Week, Jesus and the apostles rose from 
their bivouac on the slopes of Olivet, where they 
had probably spent the larger part of the night in 
a banquet of fellowship and prayer, and, descend- 
ing, beheld a fig-tree, which gave every outward 
sign of having fruit upon it. It was not yet the 
time of fig harvest, but knowing that the "fruit 
appears before the leaves," and that the ripened 
fruit from the previous season often hung upon 
the tree until the new crop appeared, they ap- 
proached the fig-tree. But when they came to it 
there was neither the old nor the new fruit, "but 
leaves only." Such hypocrisy Jesus could no 

26 



Cleansing the Father's House 27 

longer tolerate : "Let no fruit grow on thee hence- 
forth and forever.'' 

Continuing on their way, they soon entered 
within the walls of the city, and bent their steps 
toward Mount Moriah, where Jesus, who had now 
openly declared His Messiahship, would enter 
into the temple as His "Father's house." The 
memory of its purification at the opening of His 
ministry was still clear in His mind, nor had it 
been forgotten by the money-changers and traf- 
fickers, who fled before His whip of small cords. 

For a month before the passover these money- 
changers appeared in every town and village of 
Palestine, bargaining and bantering with the peo- 
ple over the price of coins, and changing the 
money of the people into the shekel and half-shekel 
of the sanctuary, in which the annual temple trib- 
ute must be paid by every Jew and proselyte, ex- 
cept women, slaves, and minors. When it is re- 
membered that there was in constant use not only 
the strictly Palestinian silver and copper coins, 
but Tyrian, Persian, Syrian, Egyptian, Grecian, 
and Roman money, it will be understood that the 
work of these money-changers came in touch 



28 Story of Christ's Passion 



with every phase of Jewish life, and the bargain- 
ing over the value of different coins became a 
cause of constant irritation to the people. 

About the time that the earliest pilgrims would 
reach Jerusalem, these stalls were closed, and the 
men took their places within the sacred precincts 
of the temple. All who refused to pay the tem- 
ple tribute, except those priests who were ex- 
cused by the Levitical law, were liable to have 
their goods confiscated and sold for the debt. The 
people were, therefore, wholly at the mercy of 
these crafty servants of the high priest. They 
usually charged a maah (from three to four cents) 
for making the change, although this at times was 
greatly increased, thereby netting an income of 
from three to four millions of dollars a year, 
which went to increase the immense revenue of 
the high priest and temple officials. 

These money-changers carried on a regular 
brokerage business within the temple, so that 
persons coming to the feast with foreign money 
must have it changed at these stalls before they 
could procure anything needful for the feast of 
their purification. The exorbitant rate of dis- 



Cleansing the Father's House 29 

count, the arguing, disputing, bargaining reveal 
to us the terrible truthfulness of the Master's 
words, "Ye have made My Father's house a den 
of thieves." 

In the case of persons who brought with them 
their sacrificial animals, which must have been 
quite frequent, for on the Mount of Olives there 
were four stalls especially designed for the sale 
of pigeons and doves, they had to have them 
examined as to their Levitical fitness by persons 
regularly qualified and appointed by the high 
priest, who charged a certain fee for their exam- 
ination. Here disputes frequently arose, due to 
the ignorance of the purchaser, or the greed of 
the examiner, who could condemn the animal, 
thereby forcing the offerer to purchase his sacri- 
fice at the temple stalls, from the family of Annas, 
"who w T ere themselves high priests, their sons 
treasurers (Gezbarin) ; their sons-in-law, assist- 
ant treasurers (Ammarkalin) ; while their serv- 
ants beat the people with sticks," in order to com- 
pel them to pay their money into the coffers of 
their masters. 

What a comment this passage from the Tal- 



30 Story of Christ's Passion 



mud offers on the conduct of Jesus, who had al- 
ready asserted His Divine authority by riding 
into Jerusalem as its Messiah-King! He had 
previously purged the temple from these sordid 
abuses, but every form of illegitimate business 
had been restored. The lowing oxen, the bleating 
sheep, the cooing of doves, the cries of greedy 
money-changers, the noisy chaffering of buyers 
and sellers filled the air with discordant sounds 
of the outside world. 

The same fervent zeal as before dismayed 
and paralyzed all opposition. His command suf- 
ficed to drive from the temple its motley crowd ; 
the sellers of doves hastened off with their cages, 
the money-changers with their coin. He made 
the one remove their counters and overthrew the 
booths of others. "My house/' said He, "shall 
be called a house of prayer; but ye have made it 
a den of thieves." 

The wondering multitude could not help sym- 
pathizing with such a bold, royal, and Messianic 
vindication of the purity of the temple. It was 
a scene worthy of any true Israelite, a protest and 
an act which, even among a less-emotional peo- 



Cleansing the Father's House 31 

pie would have won for Him the respect and ad- 
miration of the populace and secured His per- 
sonal safety. 

The significance of such an act was known to 
none better than to Jesus Himself. He knew that 
His hour had come; that He must lay His body 
on the altar as a sacrifice for the sins of men ; He 
knew that the vested interests of the priestly 
classes who passed off their selfish aims as zeal 
for religion, thereby hoping to win the applause 
of unthinking millions, had already passed; He 
knew that the religious evolution which He had 
inaugurated must forever put an end to greed 
and gain under the pretense of religion, and in- 
stitute a new order of spiritual contact with God. 

As soon as the chief priests and represent- 
atives of the Sanhedrin could recover themselves, 
they determined to approach Jesus in such over- 
whelming numbers and in so stately a manner 
that they might overcome Him. All that was em- 
inent in the nation for wisdom, venerable in age, 
and imposing in authority, followed the priests, 
who were arranged by courses, to meet this Man, 
whom they were pleased to style "the Enemy of 



32 Story of Christ's Passion 



the temple. " The people, whom He had been 
teaching, made reverent way, lest they should de- 
file those flowing robes and ample fringes with a 
touch. When they had arranged themselves with 
great pomp about Jesus, they sternly and abruptly 
demanded, "By what authority doest Thou these 
things, and who gave Thee that authority?" They 
did not dispute the justice of His deeds, but de- 
manded the authority by which He assumed to 
perform such bold, Messianic acts. 

The reply to their question puzzled them: 
"The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of 
men ?" They had sent deputations publicly to in- 
quire into the ministry of that holy man whom 
all the people accepted as a great Prophet and 
Teacher, but whom they had secretly rejected. 
They knew that the mission of John was from 
heaven; that it had the approval of God and of 
the conscience of the nation, even though they 
chose to set themselves in opposition to his burn- 
ing words. They desired to say that the baptism 
of John was "of men," but fearing the people, 
and not desiring openly to acknowledge Him, 
they said, "We can not tell." 



Cleansing the Father's House 33 

There is an admirable proverb among the He- 
brews which says, "Teach thy tongue to say, 'I 
do not know " but in this instance to say, "We 
can not tell," was not only alien to their habit, 
but a death-blow to their boasted pretensions. It 
was ignorance in a place where ignorance was 
inexcusable. They were the teachers of the law, 
who claimed a monopoly of Scriptural learning 
and oral tradition, and to compel them, in the 
presence of the people, to say, "We can not tell," 
whether a man of profound piety and deep and 
abiding love for God's cause, a man who acknowl- 
edged the Scriptures, which they explained, and 
carried into practice the customs which they re- 
vered, "We can not tell whether this Man was a 
deluded impostor or an inspired messenger of 
God," must have been humiliating in the ex- 
treme. 

Jesus, seeing their discomfiture, said, "Neither 
tell I you by what authority do I these things." 

Turning from these priestly notables, Jesus 
said to the people, "What think ye?" If a man 
have two sons, and going to the first, he saith, 
"Son, go work to-day in my vineyard," and he 
3 



34 Story of Christ's Passion 



refused to do so, "but afterward repented and 
went;" the other son appeared very willing to 
work, but afterward refused to do so; Jesus 
asked, "Whether of these twain did the will of 
his father?" There was but one answer, "The 
first;" whereupon He pointed out the plain and 
solemn duty that devolved upon them. He showed 
them that the publicans and harlots who had per- 
formed their deeds of sin in open shamelessness, 
at the preaching of "the kingdom of God," flocked 
to the ministry of John, and by true repentance 
and faith entered into the kingdom of heaven, 
leaving those who had despised John's warnings 
as refuse for "the eternal burning." 

Having thus exposed their hypocrisy, Jesus 
showed the wicked design and murderous spirit 
of their couduct by the parable of the wicked hus- 
bandmen, who shamefully treated the servants 
of the householder, who had been sent to receive 
his portion of the fruits. "But last of all he sent 
unto them his son, saying, They will reverence 
my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, 
they said among themselves, This is the heir; 
come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his in- 



Cleansing the Father's House 35 

heritance. And they caught him, and cast him 
out of the vineyard, and slew him." 

The meaning of the parable was so obvious 
that the people said that the lord of the vine- 
yard would "miserably destroy those wicked men, 
and let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, 
who shall render unto him their fruits in their 
season." 

But Jesus would not suffer them to escape with 
an indirect reply. He referred them to the one 
hundred and eighteenth Psalm, asking if they had 
not read, "The stone which the builders rejected 
the same is become the head of the corner." It is 
the great lesson of immutability of God's king- 
dom, which must ultimately triumph over every 
opposition. 

To these answers to the challenge of Christ's 
authority, He added one more parable of pro- 
found interest. The marriage of the king's son 
(Matt, xxii, 1-14) sounds a note of warning that 
the Gentile, who had not been specially favored 
by the Lord, should now enter into the marriage 
supper. 

The marriage feast in the East usually lasted 



36 



Story of Christ's Passion 



several days, and among the wealthy was an event 
of great splendor. The guests were invited in 
person or by a servant of high rank. As the time 
approached they were reminded of the event, lest 
it be forgotten. So the servants were "sent to 
call them that were bidden." 

In this instance the king sent again and again, 
but the guests "made light of it." This was the 
highest possible affront — no greater insult could 
have been given. The whole community were 
shocked by their gross neglect, especially when 
they seized the servants and "entreated them 
spitefully, and slew them." 

But the king would not be outwitted by these 
cruel and murderous subjects, who openly re- 
belled against his authority. He sent out other 
servants "into the highways" to urge all whom 
they should find to enter into the banqueting 
chamber. In welcoming these guests it was dis- 
covered that one of them had refused to put on 
the wedding garment provided by his host, and 
the king commanded his servants to "bind him," 
and cast him out of the banqueting-hall. 

The real meaning of these parables seems to 



Cleansing the Father's House 37 

be so clear that Israel could no longer doubt that 
Jesus claimed Divine authority for His Kingly 
acts. The goodness of God had not only provided 
for His chosen people the prophets and judges, 
but He had given them Abraham as their father, 
David as their king, and Isaiah as their prophet. 
In these last days He had borne testimony of His 
undying affection in the ministry of John, a holy 
and devout priest, whose very life was an eloquent 
plea for righteousness. Last of all, God sent His 
own Son, who endeavored to turn their thoughts 
to the higher interests of eternal things ; but they 
spurned Him. Now He sounds the warning note, 
"The wrath of God shall be poured out against 
all ungodliness and sin." 

But instead of hearkening to the voice of Jesus, 
these haughty priests and Pharisees were embit- 
tered, and sought the more to put Him to death, 
because He interfered with the profits of their 
unholy traffic. In the parable of the two sons 
He convicted them of false professions, unaccom- 
panied by action. Then He illustrated the great 
responsibility of religious leaders who were un- 
faithful to the trust committed to them. Then 



38 



Story of Christ's Passion 



followed the parable warning them that terrible 
judgment would ensue upon a continued rejection 
of Divine grace, and the utter impossibility of 
deceiving "Him with whom we have to do." They 
had not only refused Him the homage of their 
hearts, but in their faithless lip-service were will- 
fully blind to every impulse that would waken 
their consciences to a higher and better life. But 
this is only the superficial outline of that deep, 
heart-searching power with which Jesus revealed 
to each of them the deception of their own hearts. 
His words pierced them to the quick, and drove 
them in desperation, either to acknowledge Him 
or call upon the darkest arts in all the annals of 
crime, with which to shield themselves in their 
self-righteousness, and condemn Him to a shame- 
ful and ignominious death. 

With this signal victory, Jesus retired from 
the sacred precincts of the Father's house, and, 
with the apostles, sought refreshment in the 
Mount of Olives. 



Ill 



THE LAST AND GREATEST DAY OF 
THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF JESUS 

(Tuesday, Aprii, 3, A. D. 30.) 

"Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come 
from God: for no man can do these miracles 
that Thou doest, except God be with him." — 
John iii, 2. 

As Jesus and the twelve descended the slopes 
of Olivet on the morning of the third day of Pas- 
sion Week, Peter called attention to the fig-tree, 
"Master, behold the fig-tree which Thou cursedst 
is withered away." The disciples beheld with as- 
tonishment the rapidity with which the denun- 
ciation had been fulfilled. The deeper signifi- 
cance of the act had been lost upon them until 
Jesus replied, "Have faith in God," and explained 
to them how God's answering grace was ever the 
response to true and simple faith in Him. 

He had scarcely entered the temple courts 
39 



4 o 



Story of Christ's Passion 



when a new kind of strategy manifests itself, the 
deadly nature of which brought the bitterest ene- 
mies together in an ill-omened scheme to rid them- 
selves of their common enemy. The Pharisees 
and Herodians were now united with the Saddu- 
cees for the ruin of Jesus. The Herodians were 
the Greek-speaking courtiers of an Edomite 
prince, who had become king of Judea by the in- 
tervention of Rome. They owed their existence 
mainly to political significance, taking no part in 
current religious life, except to show their utter 
contempt for the Mosaic law. Their highest aim 
was to foster the friendship of Rome, and oblit- 
erate as far as possible every distinctive element 
of Jewish nationality. That the Pharisees, who 
were intense Jewish patriots, should enter into a 
conspiracy with these enemies of their nation, in 
league with the unbelieving and infidel Saddu- 
cess, shows how bitter the enmity toward Jesus 
must have been. 

The haughty ecclesiastics who had questioned 
His authority for cleansing the temple, were now 
united with the civil authorities. Both parties 
understood the ever-watchful eye of Rome, the 



Last and Greatest Day 



4i 



reckless tyranny of Pilate, and the low artifices 
of Herod, who was now in Jerusalem, so that 
they felt confident of their ability to bring Him 
into conflict with the civil power. 

The plot was cunningly arranged. Feigning 
themselves just men, they came to Jesus with 
honeyed words, intended not only to disarm His 
suspicions, but by an appeal to His fearlessness 
and singleness of moral purpose, to induce Him 
to commit Himself without reserve. It was as 
though they would entreat Him, without fear or 
favor, confidently to give them His private opin- 
ion upon a matter of constant irritation among 
themselves. He perceived the envenomed fang 
in a moment, "Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar 
or not ?" — shall they pay the capitation tax of one 
drachm, which they so much detested, but which 
the Herodians supported? ought they or ought 
they not to pay it ? 

The root of the question was the ground of 
contention between these two contending parties. 
The national party held that to pay the tribute- 
money was to own Caesar's royal authority in- 
stead of that of Jehovah, who alone was Israel's 



42 Story of Christ's Passion 

King. If He should answer, "No," it would in- 
stigate rebellion against the Roman power; and 
to answer in the affirmative would give a painful 
shock to the people who looked upon Him as their 
Messiah-King. 

The reply of Jesus, after He had looked upon 
a Roman coin, was of marvelous beauty and 
breadth, "Render unto Caesar the things which 
are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are 
God's." It elevated the controversy from one of 
mere conflict between contending parties to one 
that recognized the just relations of both God 
and man. When they properly understood the 
mission of human governments, they would no 
longer quarrel over the capitation tax. It was not 
a voluntary gift, but a legal debt; not a cheer- 
ful offering, but a political necessity. 

The answer was in perfect harmony with the 
Jewish principle that claimed that the right of 
coinage implied the authority of levying taxes. 
They had accepted the Roman denarius, thereby 
acknowledging that Caesar was their sovereign, 
and affirming the legality of that choice by habit- 
ually paying the poll-tax. It was, therefore, their 



Last and Greatest Day 43 



duty to yield obedience to the authority they had 
so deliberately chosen, as the tax only represented 
an equivalent of the benefits received. 

But beyond this political necessity there was 
a moral obligation, "Render unto God the things 
which are God's." They had not only received, 
but they had made use of the institutions of God's 
kingdom ; they were, therefore, under obliga- 
tions to Him. To Caesar they owed the coin, 
which they admitted as the symbol of his author- 
ity, and which bore his image and superscription; 
to God they owed themselves, as living and ac- 
ceptable sacrifices. 

The Sadducees, who had not hitherto taken 
much interest in the discussion, seemed to feel 
themselves perfectly competent to confuse Jesus 
with their questions, as they proposed to Him the 
case invented by rabbinical casuistry, of a woman 
who was supposed, in accordance with Jewish law, 
to have married in succession seven brothers, each 
of whom died without children. They ask, there- 
fore, "In the resurrection [in the future life] 
whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they 
all had her." 



44 Story of Christ's Passion 

The Sadducees did not believe in the future 
life, and having heard that Jesus taught it, they 
fancied that He held the same views as the Phari- 
sees, who cherished "the hope and resurrection of 
the dead." In their coarse illustration, they 
thought they had covered Him with ridicule. The 
Pharisees had already settled the question by say- 
ing that in the resurrection she should be the wife 
of the first husband. And if Jesus had rested in 
this reply, they would hardly have been able to 
deny its force, it having received the sanction of 
men most highly esteemed for their wisdom. But 
Jesus was not content with any such reply, even 
though it might have satisfied the minds of the 
great Hillel and Shammai. He might have treated 
their question with contemptuous scorn, which it 
deserved, but such a spirit was far from Him. 
In His reply, He explained to them the great error 
they made in studying the Scriptures, in not un- 
derstanding that in the future life those who are 
so happy as to enter the heavenly kingdom of the 
Messiah will neither marry nor be given in mar- 
riage, but shall be as the angels of God, and, like 
the angels, live forever. 



Last and Greatest Day 45 



Jesus then referred them to the law of Moses, 
which they had already quoted, and asked if they 
had not read in the vision of the burning bush 
that the dead are raised ; for Moses calls Jehovah 
"the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and 
the God of Jacob;" and then adds, "God is not 
the God of the dead, but of the living." This 
was a blow at the very foundation of their creed, 
which disbelieved in immortality. 

The news quickly spread that Jesus had put 
to silence the Sadducees, and one of the scribes, 
who had been temporarily won by His victory, 
said, "Rabbi, Thou hast spoken well." But this 
expression of kindly consideration was quickly 
changed, as one of their number determined to 
fathom the depth of Christ's wisdom and learn- 
ing: "Which is the first commandment of all?" 
According to the rabbis some of the command- 
ments were of far greater significance than oth- 
ers. Some of them believed that the commands 
respecting the fringes on their phylacteries were 
of supreme importance. Others, that the omission 
of absolutions was as bad as homicide; others, 
that the precepts of the Mishna were all "heavy ;" 



46 Story of Christ's Passion 



others, that the words of the rabbis were to be 
"prized above those of the law, for the words of 
the law are both weighty and light, but those of 
the rabbis are all weighty." In all of this dis- 
cussion they failed to recognize that the willful 
violation of one commandment was the transgres- 
sion of the spirit of all, because the object of the 
entire law is to preserve a spirit of allegiance to 
Almighty God. 

On this question, therefore, the leading think- 
ers of Israel were divided. Some of the leading 
minds perceived that the value of every command- 
ment depended more on its spiritual than its cere- 
monial observance. Jesus had already emphasized 
this thought. He now repeated it. Pointing to 
the tephillin of the scribes, which contained in 
one of its four corners the shema (Deut. vi, 4), 
recited twice every day by every pious Israelite, 
He told them that there was the greatest com- 
mandment, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God 
is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This 
is the first commandment. And the second is like, 



Last and Greatest Day 



47 



namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
self. There is none other commandment greater 
than these/' (Mark xii, 29-31.) 

The half-hearted scribe who had asked the 
question, perceiving that Christ had summed up 
our whole duty in the fundamental conception 
of religion and morality, broke in, "Well, Master, 
Thou hast said the truth: for there is one God, 
and there is none other but He ; and to love Him 
with all the heart, and with all the understanding, 
and with all the soul, and with all the strength, 
and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than 
all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." 

"And when Jesus saw that He answered dis- 
creetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from 
the kingdom of God." 

This was the last attempt on the part of Israel 
to entangle Jesus with their questions. As on 
former occasions, when they had been put to 
silence, Jesus put to them a question concerning 
the descent of the Messiah, "Whose Son is He ?" 
And they replied, "The Son of David." He then 
referred to the opening verses of the one hundred 
and tenth Psalm, in which David called the Mes- 



48 Story of Christ's Passion 



siah "Lord," and asked, "How then doth David in 
spirit call Him Lord, saying, Sit Thou on my 
right hand till I make Thine enemies Thy foot- 
stool ? If David, then, call Him Lord, how is He 
his Son?" There could be but one answer, be- 
cause that Son was Divine — David's Son by hu- 
man birth, but David's Lord by Divine substance. 

With these questions passed Israel's last hope 
of reconciliation. Every possible appeal of loving 
sympathy had been stubbornly rejected. They 
were becoming harder and harder in their unre- 
lenting hate. Turning, therefore, to His disci- 
ples, but still in the presence of the multitude, 
Jesus uttered those anathemas contained in the 
twenty-third chapter of Matthew, where in utter- 
ance after utterance He pronounced, "Woe unto 
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites," scathing 
them with a flame that at once revealed their 
shame and burned its way into their hearts. 
(Matt, xxiii.) 

Turning from these denunciations of the 
scribes and Pharisees, Jesus entered into another 
portion of the temple, where he could gain a full 
view of the "court of the women." Here He may 



Last and Greatest Day 



49 



have sat down and watched the moving multitude. 
The time of sacrifice was past, and those that still 
lingered had remained for private devotion, or 
private sacrifice, or to pay their vows and offer- 
ings unto the Lord. Along the colonnades were 
thirteen trumpet-shaped boxes, situated at inter- 
vals, to receive the free-will offerings of the 
people. 

Apparently as Jesus was about to leave the 
temple, or perhaps while He was still sitting with 
saddened heart, troubled by the unwonted in- 
tensity of moral indignation, His mind wearied 
with its incessant labor, another and less painful 
incident occurred, which enabled Him to leave the 
actual precincts of His Father's house with words 
of tenderest sympathy, rather than those of fierc- 
est denunciation. 

In the court of the women He saw a poor, 
pious widow bring her offering of two prutahs, 
the very smallest of current coins, for it was not 
lawful, even for the poorest, to offer but one. A 
Upton or prut ah was the eighth part of an as, 
and was worth a little less than half a cent, so 
that her whole gift was worth less than a penny. 
4 



50 Story of Christ's Passion 

This poor widow had timidly dropped in her little 
contribution, ashamed of her poverty, because she 
could not bring more. The lips of the rich might 
have curled with scorn at the presentation of such 
an offering, but Jesus was pleased with her fidel- 
ity and self-sacrificing spirit. It was like the "cup 
of cold water/' given in the name of a disciple. 
It should not lose its reward. He wished to teach 
for all time that the essence of charity is self- 
denial, and the self-denial of this widow in her 
poverty was far greater than the costliest gift of 
the wealthiest Pharisee, "For all they did cast 
in of their abundance; but she of her want did 
cast in all that she had, even all her living." 
(Mark xii, 44.) 

The infinite moral grandeur and purity of the 
Savior, His absolute truth, His all-embracing love, 
His lowly humility, His intense moral earnest- 
ness, His spirit of joyous self-sacrifice for the 
moral and spiritual good of others, shines like a 
scepter of diamonds before the infinitely little 
sophistries of the rabbinical party. The spirit of 
a formal religion, with its petty sanctions, its 
cant and insincerity, its striving for outward show 



Last and Greatest Day 51 



and ulterior ends, could find no favor with Him. 
He knew of no divorce of religion from morality. 
Religion, with Him, must be a living principle 
of the heart, vitalizing the entire life. 

After this lesson of infinite condescension and 
tenderness, Jesus crossed the threshold of the 
temple for the last time. What thoughts wrought 
within that sacred breast we shall never know. 
But the apostles could not forget that object of 
national pride, concerning which Jesus had said, 
"There shall not be left here one stone upon an- 
other that shall not be thrown down." (Matt, 
xxiv, 2.) Their hearts still clung to that sacred 
and memorable spot. They could not refrain 
from casting upon its buildings one long and wist- 
ful glance as they recalled His vivid prophecy. 
From their earliest recollections the temple had 
been the object of their pride. To it they had 
brought their gifts, and from it they had hoped for 
the fulfillment of those "great and precious prom- 
ises" which had been the heritage of Israel 
through the centuries of her history. They could 
not forget its beveled blocks of marble, its double 
cloisters and stately pillars, its lavish adornment 



52 Story of Christ's Passion 

of sculpture and arabesque, its vast clusters of 
golden grapes which twined their splendid lux- 
uriance over the golden doors. They would have 
Him gaze with them upon the rising terraces of 
courts, its marble whiteness and gilded roofs, its 
parapets and towers which rose in stately loveli- 
ness and splendor, the pride of every Israelite. 
But the heart of Jesus was sad. To Him the only 
beauty of a temple was its purity and the sincerity 
of its worshipers. Without these they had no 
charm. 

Sadly and silently the little band turned their 
backs upon that sacred building that stood for all 
that was dear unto their nation since the days of 
Solomon. Within its walls were the sacred rolls 
of Moses and the prophets, the songs of their 
hero-king, David, the gorgeous stories of their 
saints and kings; in fact, everything that was 
dear to the heart of a pious Jew, centered in that 
hallowed spot. 

They crossed the valley of the Kedron, — 

"And higher yet the glorious temple rear'd, 
Her pile, far off appearing like a mount 
Of alabaster, topp'd with golden spires." 

— Milton. 



Last and Greatest Day 53 



They ascended the slopes of Olivet by the steep 
footpath that leads over its summit to Bethany. 
At the top of the hill they paused, and Jesus seated 
Himself, perhaps beneath one of those great cedar- 
trees that graced the summit. The position com- 
manded an inspiring view. Beyond the slopes of 
Olivet lay the city of Jerusalem with its perishing 
millions ; at the very foot of the hill rose the walls 
of the temple, with all its sacred and sorrowful 
memories; toward the south might be seen the 
slimy mass of the Sea of Judgment; while far 
across the valley of the Jordan rose the mountains 
of Moab, with their royal splendor painted on the 
evening sky; at His feet lay the slopes of Olivet 
and the Garden of Gethsemane. 

It may be that the shadows of His thought 
cast a strange solemnity over this varied scene. 
The apostles could not forget His prophecy con- 
cerning Jerusalem and the temple, and finally 
Peter, James, John, and Andrew broke the silence 
by their question, "When shall these things be, 
and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and 
of the end of the world ?" Jesus did not answer 
their question directly; but in the discourse that 



54 Story of Christ's Passion 



followed are some of the richest gems of thought 
that ever fell from His gracious lips. 

He fittingly warns them against false Mes- 
siahs, who will come with great claims and boasted 
pretensions. He then told them that they should 
"hear of wars and rumors of wars" before the 
destruction of the temple, but they are not to be 
troubled. Nor need they think that these wars 
will be harbingers of national deliverance; for, 
instead of marking the era of God's intervention 
for the restoration of His chosen people, they 
will mark the beginning of His judgments. For 
nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom 
against kingdom, and there will be famines, and 
pestilence, and earthquakes, and fearful sights in 
the heavens; but do not mistake these for the 
coming of an earthly Messiah; they are but the 
first pangs of coming sorrow. 

The next great paragraph of His address per- 
tained to the immediate future. He had foretold 
the destruction of Jerusalem. He will now re- 
veal the signs that should precede that notable 
event. Jerusalem should be encompassed with 
armies ; men would flee across the Jordan, or hide 



Last and Greatest Day 



55 



themselves in the caves of the earth in order to 
escape the unspeakable horrors of that awful siege. 
But even then they must not be deceived by their 
Messianic hopes. When He shall again appear 
on the earth with lightning splendor, His glory 
shall be flashed from the east to the west, and 
"nothing shall be hid that shall not be revealed." 

The apostles could not mistake these warn- 
ings, and before John of Giscola had shut the 
gates of Jerusalem, or Simon of Gerasa had be- 
gun to murder the fugitives, so that "he that es- 
caped the tyrant within the walls was destroyed 
by the outer that lay before the gate/' and before 
the Roman eagles floated over the doomed city, 
or the infamies of lust and murder had driven 
every worshiper in horror from the temple-courts, 
the Christians had secured themselves in the little 
town of Pella, where they were beyond the reach 
of robbery, and murder, and famine, and canni- 
balism, and extermination, which made the siege 
of Jerusalem the most terrible in all the annals 
of history. 

Then Jesus passed to those fearful portents 
which should announce His second coming. The 



56 Story of Christ's Passion 



sun and the moon should be darkened and the 
falling stars and trembling powers of heaven 
should announce His arrival, to gather His fol- 
lowers from the four quarters of the earth. That 
great and terrible day of the Lord should be pre- 
ceded by its omens, which He bids His children 
observe. And that day shall come to the world 
suddenly, "as a thief in the night." It should 
be a day of great triumph to the faithful, but a 
day of fearful premonitious and awful judgments 
to those who had despised His loving favor. 

As might be expected, Jesus illustrated this 
discourse with the parables of the "talents" and 
of the "ten virgins," showing that the great prac- 
tical lessons of the Lord's coming was its unex- 
pectedness, and the need of constant readiness. 

At the conclusion of the discourse, having 
warned the disciples that it lacked but two days 
until the time when, on the coming Passover, 
He should be betrayed and put to death, the 
little band moved on toward Bethany. Here 
they may have tarried, or, perhaps, under the 
spacious canopy of heaven, the Redeemer of men 
rested with His disciples for the next two days, 
in preparation for the Feast of the Passover. 



IV 



CHRIST OUR PASSOVER 

(Thursday Night, Aprii, 5, A. D. 30.) 

"For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for 
us/' — 1 Cor. v, 7. 

The: fifth day of Passion Week, like the 
preceding day, was spent in holy quietude until 
toward evening, when Jesus and the disciples en- 
tered Jerusalem to partake of the passover meal 
in "the large upper room," where Peter and John 
had made ready. (Luke xxii, 7-14.) 

The evangelists do not tell us, and even tradi- 
tion is silent, as to who owned the room. Whether 
it belonged to Mark, or Joseph of Arimathea, 
is not certain. It is sufficient, however, to note 
that universal hospitality prevailed, the only com- 
pensation that could be given being the skin of 
the lamb and the few wooden dishes used at the 
feast. No fewer than ten, and often as many as 
twenty, reclined together for the feast. On this 

57 



58 Story of Christ's Passion 



occasion, however, Jesus did not desire any but 
His closest followers to enter into the communion 
of those sacred moments. 

The directions of the Master to Peter and 
John, while at once evincing the Divine fore- 
knowledge of Christ, had also its deep human sig- 
nificance. Evidently the house where the pass- 
over was to be observed, nor its owner, was to 
be mentioned beforehand in the hearing of Ju- 
das, who had already covenanted to betray Jesus 
at the very first opportunity. The last meal, with 
its sacred lessons and their last retreat, was not 
to be betrayed until His "hour" had fully come, 
and the last prayer of agony had ascended from 
the Garden of Gethsemane. 

In all probability the paschal lamb had been 
purchased previously by Judas, although he may 
have neglected this duty, as thousands of others 
did. If so, the day would be a busy one for Peter 
and John, who must not only get the room in 
readiness, but select a lamb of the first year, have 
it approved by the proper officials, flay it in the 
early afternoon, roast it, and be ready for the 
passover-meal "between the two evenings.*' 



Christ our Passover 



59 



There must have been a peculiar significance 
to the two disciples in the temple service that 
afternoon. The temple court was crowded with 
worshipers, the court of the priests, with the 
white-robed priests and Levites, for on that day 
all the twenty-four courses were on duty, although 
only the course for that week would that after- 
noon engage in the ordinary service, which pre- 
ceded that of the feast. Their hearts must have 
filled with precious memories as they listened 
to the three sections of the Levites chant the 
eighty-first Psalm, broken three times by the 
threefold blast of the silver trumpets of the 
priests. 

Before the incense was burnt for the evening 
sacrifice, or the seven bowls of the golden candle- 
stick were trimmed for the night, the paschal 
lambs were slain. Peter and John would probably 
enter with the first of the three great companies 
of worshipers through the massive Nicanor Gates, 
and while slaying their lamb, the same as other 
Israelites, heard the loud, threefold blast from the 
trumpets of the priests, which announced that the 
lambs were being slain. The blood was caught in 



6o Story of Christ's Passion 



a golden bowl and passed up one of the long 
lines of priests to the great Altar of Burnt-offer- 
ing. While this was going on the Levites chanted 
the Hallel, the first line of every Psalm being re- 
peated by the worshipers until they came to the 
one hundred and eighteenth, when they responded 
by a hallelujah to every other line, and repeated 
the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses: 

" Save now, I beseech Thee, O Lord : 
O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity. 
Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord." 

The words must have sounded deeply sig- 
nificant to Peter and John as they remembered 
that on the Jewish Monday before they had been 
used to greet the advent of Israel's triumphant 
King. And now they seemed so full of meaning 
as if uttered in anticipation of the time when 
the blood of the true paschal Lamb was to be 
shed. 

Their lamb being slain, it was quickly dressed, 
the parts which were to be burnt on the altar re- 
moved and prepared for burning, and the sacri- 
fice laid on staves which rested on their shoulders, 
they quietly found their way through the narrow 



Christ our Passover 6i 



streets back to that hospitable home, where the 
lamb would be "roasted on a pomegranate spit 
that passed right through it from mouth to vent, 
special care being taken that, in roasting, the 
lamb did not touch the oven." 

Everything was ready as the last rays of the 
setting sun sent their long shadows from the 
towers and parapets of the temple. Jesus and the 
other ten disciples descended once more the slopes 
of Olivet and entered the Holy City. Before 
them lay Jerusalem in her festive attire. All 
around pilgrims were hastening to it. White 
tents dotted the sward, gay with the bright flow- 
ers of early spring, or the darker foliage of olive 
plantations. From the gorgeous temple build- 
ings, dazzling in their snow-white marble and 
gold, on which the slanting rays of the sun were 
reflected, rose the smoke of the altar of burnt- 
offering. These courts were crowded with eager 
worshipers, offering for the last time, in any 
real sense, their paschal lambs. The streets were 
crowded with strangers, and the flat roofs covered 
with eager gazers, who either feasted their eyes 
with a first sight of the Sacred City, for which 



62 Story of Christ's Passion 



they had so often longed, or once more rejoiced in 
the view of well-known localities. It was the last 
day-view which the Lord would take, free and 
unhindered, of the Holy City until after His res- 
urrection. Once more in the approaching night 
of His betrayal would He look upon it in the pale 
light of the full moon. He was going forth to 
accomplish His death in Jerusalem ; to fulfill type 
and prophecy, and to offer Himself as the true 
Passover Lamb, "the Lamb of God, which tak- 
eth away the sin of the world." 

The first three stars had just become visible 
when the threefold blast from the silver trumpets 
of the priests announced the beginning of the 
most important and joyous feast in Israel. It was 
the anniversary of the nation's birthday, the cel- 
ebration of their deliverance from Egyptian bond- 
age, an event which called forth the most joyous 
expressions of confidence in the providences of 
God. 

As the meal advanced, Jesus unexpectedly 
rose from the table, and, laying aside His outer 
garments, procured a towel, and, girding Himself 
with it as a slave, poured some water into a basin, 



Christ our Passover 63 



and proceeded in turn to wash the feet of the 
disciples. 

They beheld Him in mute astonishment. They 
did not understand His meaning. Why should 
He, the One whom angels adore, abase Himself 
to the occupation of the most menial servant? 
They were embarrassed and confused. Could it 
be that He would reprove them for their selfish- 
ness at the feast of the house of Simon, the leper, 
or for their contending over the chief places in 
His kingdom? 

The work of unheard of condescension pro- 
ceeded in silence until the turn came to Simon 
Peter. He was so overcome by the thought of 
Christ performing for him the office of a com- 
mon slave, that he hastily drew up his feet, as he 
said, "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?" He felt 
himself too unworthy for such attention. 

But Jesus "came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister and to give His life a ransom 
for many." Peter did not understand this, and 
said, "Thou shalt never wash my feet." He had 
forgotten that "obedience is better than sacrifice 
and to hearken than the fat of lambs." Jesus 



64 Story of Christ's Passion 



knew that it was Peter's mistaken zeal, and there- 
fore said, "If I wash thee not," — O, words of in- 
finite tenderness, — "thou hast no part with Me." 
Peter had not thought of that. "Lord," if that is 
Thy meaning, "not my feet only, but also my 
hands and my head." 

From these words it is evident that Peter did 
not yet fully understand Christ's meaning. At 
first he refused what was necessary; now he de- 
manded what was superfluous. He saw more 
clearly after Jesus had said, "He that is washed, 
needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean 
every whit: and ye are clean, but not all." He 
perceived that there was a constant need of their 
being purified from besetting sins, in order that 
they might rise to a newness of life and blessing 
in Christ Jesus. 

After Jesus completed this task, He resumed 
His outer garments, and, again reclining at the 
table, asked, "Know ye what I have done to you ? 
Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for 
so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have 
washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one 
another's feet: for I have given you an example 



Christ our Passover 65 



that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater 
than his Lord; neither He that is sent greater 
than He that sent Him. If ye know these things, 
happy are yet if ye do them." 

But the great lesson had its spiritual applica- 
tion, in teaching men not to accuse each other of 
faults, but to "bear one another's burdens, and 
so fulfill the law of Christ." He who washes an- 
other's feet, in the sense indicated by Christ, 
places himself on the same footing with him as a 
sinner — enters compassionately in his fault and 
reveals to him the goodness of God in applying 
the gospel-balm to the wounded spirit. 

As the meal advanced, Jesus said, "With de- 
sire have I desired to eat this passover with you 
before I suffer." It was the desire of His soul 
to open up a way for man to God, and establish 
a perpetual memorial of His atoning life. He re- 
joiced in anticipation of that peaceful circle of 
devoted friends, away from the discordant sounds 
of unbelief and the noise of an opposing world. It 
must have been an hour of great pleasure to Him 
who had spent His life in the interests of others 
5 



66 Story of Christ's Passion 



to take leave of His confidential friends in this 
peaceful manner. The words, "With desire have 
I desired/' are of themselves sufficient to im- 
press upon the feast the stamp of a Divine mys- 
tery, of a sacrament. How He longed to bestow 
upon men the legacy of love! Even that night 
of death could not deter Him from thoughts of 
the tenderest compassion. "Having loved His 
own, He loved them to the end," that He might 
bestow upon them the rich inheritance of His 
grace, and make them partakers of His heavenly 
kingdom. 

With this expression of His great desire, 
Jesus connected one of a more prophetic char- 
acter, "For I say unto you, I will not any more 
eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of 
God." It was His last passover ; they would soon 
be separated, and He would ascend to the right 
hand of the Father, there to make intercession for 
us. It was this blessed prospect that made Him 
rejoice. He saw down through the vista of time 
to where this feast of deliverance would be per- 
fected in an eternal triumph. 

Toward the close of the meal the disciples 



Christ our Passover 67 



were greatly agitated by the unexpected announce- 
ment that one of them should betray Him. It 
was a painfully-affecting secret to know that 
among them who had been His most intimate and 
trusted friends one should betray Him. They 
seem to feel that the "heart is deceitful above all 
things and desperately wicked." They could not 
forget that the culprit was among them — one 
who had partaken with them in the privileges of 
personal companionship. Each feels that he can 
not trust himself, and turns with anxious heart, 
"Lord, is it I?" 

It was in this spirit that David had prayed, 
"Search me, O God, and know my heart : try me 
and know my thoughts, and see if there be any 
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever- 
lasting." Every other thought was driven from 
their bosoms. The all-penetrating light of God 
had been let in to the secret recesses of the soul, 
and "each of them," with one exception, turned 
to Christ with broken-hearted penitence. 

" Every evil thought they ever thought, 
Every evil word they ever said, 
And every evil thing they ever did," 



68 Story of Christ's Passion 



all crowded upon their memories and made their 
consciences afraid. 

During all their questioning Jesus remained 
silent, in order to give Judas one more opportu- 
nity to repent. The anxious-hearted disciples 
desired to know who it was, and Peter motioned 
to John to ask Jesus who should betray Him. 
In a whisper, John said, "Who is it, Lord ?" And 
in a tone equally low, Jesus replied, "He it is to 
whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it." 
And, dipping a piece of the thin, flexible bread 
in the common bowl in the center of the table, — 
an act in itself which would occasion no surprise, 
but which was a sign to John, — He gave it to 
Judas. He had been sitting in silent scorn, lis- 
tening to the tearful questioning of the other dis- 
ciples with "a definant hardness of contempt or a 
sullen gloom of guilt ; but now, stung, it may be, 
by some sense of the shuddering horror with 
which the mere possibility of his guilt was re- 
garded, he nerved himself for the shameful and 
shameless question, "Master, is it I ?" He would 
not condemn himself in the presence of his fel- 
low-disciples by acknowledging his treachery, 



Christ our Passover 69 



since Jesus had so mercilessly exposed him, "Thou 
hast said." Stung by the consciousness that his 
guilt was known, he rose from the table and 
rushed out into the night, made darker by the 
shadow of his crime. 

At the close of the meal, according to Jewish 
custom, they sang the great Hallel, or psalm of 
praise, after which the signal should be given 
to rise up and depart. Instead of that, the Mas- 
ter, to whom all eyes were turned, rose and be- 
gan a still more solemn act than the eating of the 
passover. In the capacity of the head of the fam- 
ily, He again took bread, and after having given 
thanks, He broke it and distributed to His disci- 
ples, saying, "Take, eat; this is My body which is 
given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. 
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This 
cup is the new testament of My blood, which is 
shed for you." 

At the conclusion of this deeply-significant 
act, they passed down from the "upper room," 
and proceeded on their way to Gethsemane. They 
walked in silence, deeply affected by the scenes 
of the evening, until Jesus broke the thoughtful 



70 Story of Christ's Passion 



silence, "All of you shall be offended because of 
Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the 
shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be 
scattered." 

The words clearly indicate Christ's conscious- 
ness of the true meaning of His suffering. He 
knew that the Holy Scriptures and with them the 
counsel of God must be fulfilled : "I have a bap- 
tism to be baptized with, and how am I strait- 
ened until it be accomplished?" 

As the thought of His own sufferings retired, 
Jesus was deeply moved for the welfare of His 
flock. He addressed Himself to Peter in words 
that were calculated to excite the deepest aston- 
ishment, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath de- 
sired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." 
(Luke xxii, 31.) The language became doubly 
appalling as the pale light of the moon sent its 
long, dark shadows over their pathway, fitting cir- 
cumstances for the imagination to paint its pic- 
tures of dreaded enemies. "Satan hath desired 
to have you," that he may prove that your profes- 
sions of goodness are false and your conversion 
deceptive. "But I have prayed for thee, that thy 



Christ our Passover 71 



faith fail not." Blessed assurance for every child 
of God, that though our faith be tried as by fire, 
yet "He will not suffer us to be tempted above that 
we are able: but will with the temptation also 
make a way to escape, that ye may be able to 
bear it." (1 Cor. x, 13.) 

It was an ordeal of this kind through which 
the disciples were now about to pass, and, know- 
ing the designs of the adversary, He gave them 
warning with comfort, that they might be the 
better prepared to withstand. He would "sift 
you as wheat," but just as the noble grain re- 
mains, and is purified and cleansed from the chaff, 
so those who have passed through the furnace of 
affliction will be as "gold tried in the fire." 

There was infinite tenderness in the words, "I 
have prayed for thee." His great heart yearned 
for them ; but He will commend them to the lov- 
ing care and kindly protection of His Heavenly 
Father, and so breathes that fervent, intercessory 
prayer found in the seventeenth chapter of John. 
O, how He prayed that their faith would not fail 
when the storms of temptation swept over them ! 
"I pray for them ; I pray not for the world, but 



72 Story of Christ's Passion 



for them that Thou hast given Me : for they are 
Mine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are 
Mine: and I am glorified in them. And now I 
am no more in the world, but these are in the 
world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep 
through Thine own name those whom Thou hast 
given Me, that they may be one as We are." "I 
pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the 
world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from 
the evil." "Sanctify them through Thy truth: 
Thy word is truth." "Neither pray I for these 
alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me 
through their word, that they all may be one, as 
Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they 
also may be one in us, that the world may believe 
that Thou hast sent Me." "Father, I will that 
they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me 
where I am, that they may behold My glory, 
which Thou hast given Me : for Thou lovedst Me 
from the foundation of the world." 

The disciples did not fully understand why this 
farewell aspect should enshroud the Savior's 
words, and so they asked, "Whither goest Thou ?" 
His reply made it so clearly evident that Thomas 



Christ our Passover 73 



said, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 
(John xi, 16.) And Peter asked, "Lord, why can 
not I follow Thee now ? I will lay down my life 
for Thy sake." But Peter did not understand how 
cowardly and deceitful his heart was. Jesus an- 
swered him, "Wilt thou lay down thy life for 
My sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The 
cock shall not crow till thou hast denied Me 
thrice." (Luke xxii, 34.) 

The words were spoken in tenderest admoni- 
tion, though the heroic soul of Peter could hardly 
believe that his zeal should be so soon overcome 
and his faith fail him. Jesus had "prayed for 
him" to save him from the agony of moral hu- 
miliation, but his self-confidence, his protested 
devotion were unable to withstand the fierce at- 
tack of the enemy. But Peter may rise on the 
ruins of his former self to a life of deeper devo- 
tion and more heroic loyalty after his risen Lord 
shall go before him into Galilee. 

Once within the silent inclosure of the Garden, 
the apostles were left to wrap themselves in their 
outer garments and rest beneath the wide-spread- 
ing branches of the olive-trees. Peter, James, and 



74 Story of Christ's Passion 



John, the favored trio, were taken a little further, 
that they might become eye-witnesses to that sol- 
emn scene. In the depths of this conflict Jesus 
felt the need of affectionate and comforting fel- 
lowship. He left them to watch while He, a 
short distance beyond, poured out His soul in an 
agony of prayer. Again and again He cast Him- 
self on the Father's bosom with ardent supplica- 
tion; but there was no welcome response to His 
earnest pleading. He pleads, "If it be possible, 
let this cup pass from Me;" but there was no 
welcome response from Him who said, "Call upon 
Me in the day of trouble : I will deliver thee, and 
thou shalt glorify Me." (Psa. 1, 15.) The cup 
of suffering did not pass from the trembling 
Savior; He drained it to its bitter dregs. "And 
being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly; 
and His sweat was is it were great drops of blood 
falling down to the ground." (Luke xxii, 44.) 
O, the horrors of that hour, when Jesus, our 
Surety, appeared at the bar of Divine justice and 
paid the penalty for our sins, that we might es- 
cape their guilt and condemnation ! 

But when we look at the select number of the 



Christ our Passover 75 



disciples as types of our weak and sinful race, 
who fill up the measure of those incomprehensi- 
ble things, while their Master was struggling 
with death in an indescribable agony, they were 
overcome with sleep. With what tenderness 
Jesus roused them, and almost supplicated them 
to watch with Him "one hour." But their eyes 
were so heavy that they fell asleep, and left their 
Master to bear alone the burden of His grief. 
They had vainly boasted of what they would do 
for Him, but they could not "watch one hour/' 
when His "soul was exceeding sorrowful, even 
unto death." (Matt, xxvi, 38.) 

Again the suffering Savior knocked at the 
audience chamber of heaven with all the fervor 
of filial resignation, "O, My Father, if this cup 
may not pass from Me, except I drink it, Thy 
will be done/' (Matt, xxvi, 42.) It was the ex- 
pression of the most sublime confidence in the 
will of His Heavenly Father. It was not that the 
Father had not heard the prayer of His Son, for 
every impulse that ascends like sweet incense to 
the heavenly throne is heard and answered ac- 
cording to the Father's will. The Father heard 



76 Story of Christ's Passion 



His cry, but the agitated soul felt the need of 
consolation, while His ardent love for men im- 
pelled Him to guard their resting-place, while 
the prince of this world appeared full-armored on 
the stage. 

As He approached the slumbering disciples 
again, He said, "Simon, sleepest thou? couldest 
not thou watch one hour?" (Mark xiv, 37.) What 
a question to put to him who had just before been 
so bold in his assertions of fidelity. And then ad- 
dressing the three, He said, "Watch ye and pray, 
lest ye enter into temptation: the spirit truly is 
ready, but the flesh is weak." 

The Lord withdrew a third time into the sol- 
itude of the Garden, and poured out the same sup- 
plication. "And there appeared an angel unto 
Him from heaven, strengthening Him." (Luke 
xxii, 43.) This heavenly visitant must have af- 
forded our Lord no small amount of comfort after 
"His mental imprisonment in the sphere of sinful 
men and lost spirits." There was such lofty sub- 
mission to the Father's will ! "He learned obedi- 
ence by the things He suffered," and from His 
suffering came forth an eternal Victor. 



Christ our Passover 77 



The cup of horror had been drained to the 
very dregs. The suppliant Savior now rises from 
the ground and hastens back to the disciples as 
their triumphant King. His whole manner is 
changed. Instead of chiding them for their fail- 
ure to watch, He now comforts them with the 
consciousness of His own victory. "Sleep on, 
now, and take your rest," He began to say, as 
though He had no further need of their assist- 
ance. His conflict was at an end. 

Then presently He said to them, "Rise, let us 
be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray 
Me." (Matt, xxvi, 46.) 



V. 



THE ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 

(Thursday Night and Friday Morning, April 
5, 6, A. D. 30.) 

"He was taken from prison and from judgment, 
and who shall declare His generation? for He 
was cut off out of the land of the living: for 
the transgression of my people was He 
stricken'' — Isa. liii, 8. 

Jesus came off more than conqueror in the 
great spiritual conflict in Gethsemane, and was 
ready when Judas approached with his band of 
priests, soldiers, and ruffians. He had just roused 
the disciples when the gleam of torches could be 
seen among the trees of the garden, and Judas 
a little in advance, saluted Jesus, "Hail, Master/' 
spoken so that all the multitude might hear, "and 
not only kissed, but covered Him with kisses." 
The simple reply of Jesus was, "Judas, betrayest 

78 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 79 

thou the Son of man with a kiss?" (Luke 
xxii, 48.) 

Passing the traitor and ignoring the sign 
which he had given, Jesus advanced toward the 
band and asked, "Whom seek ye?" a question at 
which they ought to have been deeply ashamed, 
because it revealed the lying character of their 
whole procedure. The Divine appearance and 
majesty of that calm Christ, so overcame those 
untutored heathen soldiers, who perhaps enter- 
tained some secret dread of the work committed 
to them, that they fell to the ground. But His 
hour had come. He repeated the inquiry, only to 
receive the same answer as before, "Jesus of 
Nazareth." He then said to them, "I have told 
you that I am He; if therefore ye seek Me, let 
these go their way," not forgetting, even in such 
an hour, His loving care over the disciples. 

The words of Christ about those that were 
with Him seem to have recalled the leaders of 
the guard to full consciousness, and may have 
awakened in them fears of possible insurrection. 
They were all astir, and, seizing Jesus, began to 
bind Him. Peter, seeing what they were about to 



8o Story of Christ's Passion 



do, drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, 
the servant of the high priest, as he asked, "Lard, 
shall we smite with the sword ?" It was a splen- 
didly heroic act, but sadly out of place under 
such a leader. Turning to the wounded man, 
and at the same time reproving Peter, Jesus 
healed the wound. 

The disciples, after this first impulsive act, 
seeing that Jesus submitted to the armed mob, 
turned and fled. A young disciple, who had been 
roused by the passing mob, and followed them 
with only his outer linen garment about him, 
escaped by leaving it in their hands. 

Surrounded by a bristling forest of swords, 
spears, and clubs, the Lord Jesus was led forth 
from the garden, probably through the same gate 
He had entered earlier in the evening, and contin- 
uing up to where a slope divides the upper city 
from the Tyropoeon, where stood the well-known 
palace of Annas. 

i. They conducted Jesus first to Annas, the 
previous high priest, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, 
an old gray-headed Sadducee, whose influence and 
wealth made and unmade high priests at will, a 



Arrsst and Trial, of Jssus 8i 



cool, cunning, and crafty old man, before whom 
Jesus was given a preliminary hearing. With 
mingled feelings of contempt and hatred the ex- 
high priest assumed the initiative in the prosecu- 
tion of Jesus. He hated Jesus because He inter- 
fered with the profits of his illegitimate business. 
He asked "Jesus of His disciples and His doc- 
trine," hoping to gain some statement by which he 
could accuse them of being an association which 
endangered the public peace. 

Jesus replied: "I spake openly to the world; 
I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, 
whither the Jews always resort, and in secret 
have I said nothing." The words reveal a clear 
conviction that Jesus believed His teachings were 
sanctioned by Divine authority. But He contin- 
ued, "Why askest thou Me ? ask them which heard 
Me, what I have said unto them: behold they 
know what I said." How could He more clearly 
testify to the purity and Divinity of His doctrine 
than by calling upon His judge to summon before 
him all who had ever heard Him speak, and let 
them testify to the purity of His words and the 
moral quality of His acts. (John xviii, 19-23.) 
6 



82 Story of Christ's Passion 



The reply revealed so clearly the false position 
of the ex-priest that one of his servants in a 
burst of brutal insolence, unreproved by that 
priestly violator of justice, profaned with the first 
infamous blow the sacred face of Christ as he 
said, "Answerest Thou the high priest so ?" 

The insult was borne with noble meekness, 
but turning to the transgressor, Jesus said, "If 
I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil : but if 
well, why smitest thou Me?" 

2. It was evident that nothing more could be 
extorted from Jesus before such a mock tribunal, 
and so Annas sent Him bound, as a sign that He 
should be condemned, across the courtyard to 
Joseph Caiaphas, who, by the grace of the Roman 
procurator and the intrigue of his father-in-law, 
filled the office of high priest. He was the only 
representative of Judaism who could hold official 
relations with Pilate, and ask his sanction upon 
their ill-omened plans. 

The collected members of the Sanhedrin al- 
ready occupied their places in the spacious hall 
of audience when Jesus was presented before 
them. When properly assembled, they were the 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 83 

authorities to whom the Jewish people must look 
to preserve purity in doctrine, and purge religion 
from heresies. It certainly belonged to them to 
examine the evidences of Christ's claim to be the 
Messiah, a right Jesus did not dispute. 

For fear of the people, it was evident that they 
must make some show of justice in the prosecu- 
tion of Christ. "The chief priests and all the 
council/' therefore, "sought for witness against 
Jesus to put Him to death," but Mark adds the 
result of their fruitless search, "they found none" 
(xiv, 55). 

The lack of evidence, however, was no barrier 
to these masters of form. "They sought false 
witness against Jesus to put Him to death." 

But many of them were so false and so self- 
contradictory that even those unjust judges could 
not, with any show of decency, accept it. 

Finally two men who had heard Jesus say 
something about the destruction of the temple 
were secured, who, by malicously misrepresent- 
ing His words, tried to cast on Him the appear- 
ance of an ungodly boaster, and at the same time 
charge Him with blasphemy against the temple. 



84 Story of Christ's Passion 

But even their testimony did not agree. One of 
them said : "I heard Him say, I can destroy this 
temple of God and build it again in three days." 
The other said: "This temple that is made with 
hands, I will destroy, and in three days I will 
build another without hands." 

Caiaphas might have closed the examination 
at this point and referred the matter to the coun- 
cil for their decision, but chafing under the silence 
of Jesus, he broke through every restraint of 
official calmness, and jumping up from his judg- 
ment seat, he demanded : "Answerest Thou noth- 
ing ?" He well knew that there was no foundation 
to these flimsy charges, but being enraged by the 
calmness of Christ, and still standing in a threat- 
ening attitude over the prisoner, he exclaimed: 
"I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell 
us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." 

It was a supreme moment. They placed Him 
under oath that they might compel Him to give 
the credentials of His kingdom. As long as accu- 
sations were confined to personal matters He was 
silent, but now He lifts the veil. He knew that 
they would not believe in Him, but His hour had 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 85 



come. The world must have a clear and unmis- 
takable statement of His Messiahship. "Thou 
hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter 
shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right 
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of 
heaven." (Matt, xxvi, 64.) 

When Caiaphas heard this unequivocal confes- 
sion, in order to manifest his pretended indigna- 
tion at this supposed piece of impiety, he rent 
his clothes, thereby unconsciously intimating the 
dissolution of the typical priesthood, now that the 
true Messiah had come to make atonement for sin. 
Then turning to the assembly, he said: "What 
further need have we of witness ? What think ye ?" 
And the whole assembly answered : "He is guilty 
of death." 

It was during this mock trial that Peter, with 
John, sought admission into the outer court. 
There was at first some objection to admitting 
them, but John, who was acquainted with the high 
priest, secured their admission. The maid who 
admitted them seemed to regard Peter with some 
suspicion, and presently, as she looked full into 



86 Story of Christ's Passion 



his face as he warmed himself, she asked: "Art 
thou not also one of His disciples ?" 

It was a moment of deep humiliation to Peter, 
surrounded by these rude mercenaries, and he 
denied, saying, "I am not, neither understand I 
what thou sayest." 

He rose from the fire and tried to escape from 
his dangerous position, but another maid called 
the attention of the jostling crowd to him : "This 
fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth." The 
men were eager to strip Peter of his disguise, 
since it would add new fuel to their jokes, but he 
denied again, and confirmed the words with an 
oath. 

Not being able to find any way of escape, Peter 
was again found in the midst of the soldiers. 
They were now more confident than before. 
"Surely thou art also one of them." Again the 
unhappy disciple denied, but they convicted him 
of falsehood by his words : "Thou art a Galilean 
and thy speech agreeth thereto." And one of their 
number, recognizing Peter, said : "Of a truth this 
fellow was with Him." To this was added the 
testimony of one of the servants of the high 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 87 

priest, a kinsman of Malchus, who asked: "Did 
not I see thee in the garden with Him ?" 

Just then the opened door of the judgment 
hall relieved Peter of any further trouble by at- 
tracting attention to Jesus, who "turned and 
looked upon Peter/' who "went out and wept 
bitterly." 

3. Jesus was led from the hall of judgment 
into the guard room, where, until daybreak, when 
the Sanhedrin could formally assemble and pro- 
nounce the sentence of death, He was subjected 
to the most shameful and cruel treatment. They 
blindfolded Him, spit in His face, and beating 
Him they sneeringly cried : "Prophesy unto us, 
Thou Christ ; who is it that smiteth Thee ? 

The morning dawn brought together a number 
of interested members of the Sanhedrin, who 
asked: "Art Thou the Christ? tell us," just aj 
if He had not previously declared Himself to be 
the Messiah. He knew their hearts, and said unto 
them: "If I tell you, ye will not believe: and if 
I also ask you [that is, if I were to attempt to 
convince you by proofs], ye will not answer Me, 
nor let Me go." He then added, "Hereafter shall 



88 Story of Christ's Passion 



the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power 
of God/' 

The chief priests and scribes could not mistake 
the sublime meaning of this declaration. He not 
only claimed to be the promised Messiah, but 
that His nature was essentially Divine. With one 
voice, therefore, they cried: "Art Thou then the 
Son of God ?" To which He replied with majestic 
firmness and decision, "Ye say that which I am." 

In the uproar which followed, one shouted 
more loudly than the others : "What need we any 
further witness: for we ourselves have heard it 
from His own lips." And they formally passed 
upon Him the sentence of death. 

4. From the presence of the Sanhedrin Jesus 
was hurried into the magnificent palace on Tem- 
ple Hill, where Pontius Pilate had taken up his 
residence during the great yearly festival, which 
necessitated his presence in Jerusalem, rather 
than at Caesarea-Philippi, because of the frequent 
outbursts of inflammable patriotism. It was still 
early, probably between six and seven o'clock in 
the morning, when Caiaphas conducted Jesus, 
with a cord around His neck, His hands bound 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 89 



like a condemned criminal, for the Roman gov- 
ernor to sanction their illegal and illicit acts. He 
was followed by the great body of the Sanhe- 
drists. 

It was the great Passover-day, and because of 
that these priests would not defile themselves by 
crossing the threshold of a Gentile's palace. (John 
xviii, 28.) They shrank more from ceremonial 
pollution than from moral guilt. In good humor, 
but in haughty and half-necessary condescension, 
Pilate went out to those pompous and priestly 
notables, and their turbulent followers, and ob- 
serving the fierce passion of the accusers and the 
meek, ineffable grandeur of their victim, he 
sternly asked, "What accusation bring ye against 
this man ?" He assumed unbelief and indifference 
to the charges laid against Jesus, though he was 
able to take a more unprejudiced view of the mat- 
ter than the Jews. 

Instead of bringing forth charges, supported 
by evidence against Jesus, they fell back on the 
lame excuse, "If He were not a malefactor we 
would not have delivered Him up unto thee." By 
their arrogance they hoped to disguise the em- 



90 Story of Christ's Passion 



barrassment of their position. They had nothing 
upon which they could base a well-grounded 
charge, no evidence in support of their murderous 
designs. Pilate could not recognize their decree. 
He would not deign to be an executioner where he 
had not been a judge. "Then said Pilate unto 
them, Take ye Him and judge Him according to 
your law." 

They were now forced to the deep humiliation 
of confessing that the power of inflicting the 
death penalty, which alone would satisfy their 
thirst for blood, had passed over to the Romans. 
Nor would the ordinary Jewish method of ston- 
ing or strangulation satisfy them. Greater humil- 
iation must be cast upon Him. He must be sub- 
mitted to the nameless horror of Roman cruci- 
fixion, with its public shame, and its slow, con- 
scious, accursed, and agonizing suffering. 

But they had no thought of letting Pilate 
escape from participation in this dreadful crime. 
"It is not lawful for us," they say, "to put any 
man to death." Pilate knew this, and had it not 
been for his weak and effeminate desire to cater to 
their whims, he never would have begun to parley 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 91 

with them. He might have known that their 
thirst for revenge upon the Nazarene would out- 
weigh their national pride. They were determined 
that Jesus should suffer the most horrible of 
deaths. 

After listening to the accusations of the priests 
and rulers, Pilate returned thoughtfully into his 
palace and desired Jesus to be again brought be- 
fore him. He could not help admiring the 
matchless beauty of the life and character of 
Christ. In pitying wonder and half-believing con- 
fidence, Pilate asked, "Art Thou the King of the 
Jews?" Thou, poor, worn, tear-stained, friend- 
less, and wasted man, with the foul marks of in- 
sult upon thy face and garments, "Art Thou the 
King of the Jews ?" Pilate seems half-convinced 
to believe it. But the answer to his question 
called him to a sense of duty, "Sayest thou this of 
thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?" Jesus 
understood that the time-serving governor was 
not ignorant of His wonderful career. He would 
not confess His faith, but adroitly evade it by 
asking, "Am I a Jew ? Thine own nation and the 
chief priests have delivered Thee unto me. What 



92 Story of Christ's Passion 



hast Thou done?" How simple, and yet how 
striking His reply: "My kingdom is not of this 
world. If My kingdom were of this world, then 
would My servants fight, that I should not be de- 
livered to the Jews : but now is My kingdom not 
from thence." (John xviii, 36.) 

Pilate listened to the words with a degree of 
astonishment and uneasiness. He could hardly 
comprehend the idea that a King could be royal 
in holiness, and supreme in self-sacrifice. "Art 
Thou a King then ?" Jesus calmly replied, "Thou 
sayest it, I am a King. To this end was I born, 
and for this cause came I into the world, that I 
should bear witness unto the truth. Every one 
that is of the truth heareth My voice." Such 
words had never before fallen upon Pilate's ears 
nor had he ever before been conscious of such 
superhuman dignity and Divine majesty. But he 
would not accept the proffered mercy. "What is 
truth ?" Is it some fleeting hallucination from the 
dreamland of phantasy? At least, there is noth- 
ing in it that is deserving of bonds or imprison- 
ment, and so going again into the presence of the 
people, he declared, "I find in Him no fault at all." 



Arrest and Triai, of Jesus 93 

The Jews, not a little enraged at their defeat, 
breathed out new threatenings against the Inno- 
cent One. They were more fierce in their assaults 
than ever. It was intolerable that they should be 
defeated by an insolent heathen. They had no 
evidence, and so bringing their accusations down 
to an unimportant assertion, they declared that 
"He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout 
all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place." 
(Luke xxiii, 5.) 

5. As soon as Pilate heard that Jesus was a 
Galilean, he sent Herod to Herod Antipas, the te- 
trarch of Galilee, that he might pronounce judg- 
ment upon Him. Herod was one of the most dis- 
reputable rulers that ever disgraced a throne 
among any people. He led a life of licentiousness, 
adorned with base acts of violence and the most 
refined cruelties. He had murdered John the 
Baptist in prison to satisfy the whim of a dancing, 
giddy girl. He was the only man, as far as we 
know, about whom Jesus ever used a contemptu- 
ous expression, "Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, 
I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to- 
morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." 



94 Story of Christ's Passion 

(Luke xiii, 32.) Antipas was delighted to see 
Jesus and hoped that He would perform some 
miracle to satisfy his idle curiosity. As Jesus ap- 
proached the seat of this libertine, he eyed Him 
with a contemptuous smile, and presumed to put 
a number of foolish questions to Him ; but Jesus 
observed complete silence. The chief priest and 
scribes, indignant at His behavior, accused Him 
vehemently, but Jesus would not stoop to answer 
such villainy. They treated Him with the utmost 
contempt and scorn, but being unable to find any 
fault with Him, Herod returned Jesus to Pilate, 
amid the scoffs and jeers of the enraged mob. 

6. As Jesus again stood before the perplexed 
and wavering governor who had sought to rid 
himself of the responsibility of condemning Him, 
by sending Him to Herod, his first impulse was to 
set Him free. But when the conspirators charged 
Him with being the ringleader of a band of out- 
laws who strove to stir up the people against 
the emperor and his authorities, while knowing 
the charge to be absolutely false, he consented 
to give it some show of reality, which the Jews 
took for signs of weakening. And after having 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 95 

examined Him again, he came forth and declared 
unto all the assembled multitude that neither he 
nor Herod had been able to find any fault in Him, 
touching the things whereof they accused Him, 
nor any crime worthy of death. He therefore 
proposed to them, "I will chastise Him and release 
Him." He would appeal to their sympathy and 
release Jesus not as an act of arbitrary justice, but 
of royal clemency. And as he looked upon that 
splendid form, that brow of matchless beauty and 
dignity, he almost involuntarily exclaimed, "Be- 
hold the man !" 

But they were not to be thwarted by any show 
of sympathy on the part of the procurator. His 
half-willed opposition was wholly unavailing. 
They saw his weakness, and clamored for the exe- 
cution of Christ. They grew more confident that 
this blood-stained governor could not longer hold 
out against them. Boldly, therefore, they flung 
to the winds every pretense that Jesus must suffer 
for a political offense, and in the heat of their 
passion, they cried, "We have a law, and by our 
law He ought to die, because He made Himself 
the Son of God." (John xix, 7.) When Pilate 



96 Story of Christ's Passion 



heard that He was "the Son of God," it made 
him tremble at the crime into which he had been 
forced. Once more he took Jesus into the quiet 
judgment hall, and with trembling accents asked, 
"Whence art Thou?" But Jesus gave him no 
answer. Then said Pilate unto Him, "Speakest 
Thou not unto Me? Knowest Thou not that I 
have power to crucify Thee, and have power to 
release Thee?" Jesus answered, "Thou couldst 
have no power at all against Me, except it were 
given thee from above : therefore he that deliv- 
ereth Me unto thee hath the greater sin." 

Pilate was so impressed by the presence of 
Christ that he sought more than ever to release 
Him, but he had already given the priests and 
elders too much advantage, so that in his weak- 
ened condition, new resolutions were unable to 
withstand the pressure created by his past trifling. 
Jesus condemned his sin, but so far from being 
offended, the judgment only deepened Pilate's 
awe of this mysterious Being, whose utter impo- 
tence seemed grander and more awful than the 
loftiest power. With all his conscience in a tu- 
mult, Pilate again led Jesus forth, and looking 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 97 



upon Him as He stood, silent and in agony, he 
said to the frantic rioters, with a flash of genuine 
conviction, "Behold your King." 

The multitude were frenzied by such contempt 
for their ambitious claims, and began to mingle 
with their cries of "Crucify!" threats against the 
Roman power. For nearly three hours they had 
waited for the governor to pronounce the penalty 
of death upon Him. It was now nine o'clock, 
and hearing their wrathful mutterings, Pilate 
asked, "Shall I crucify your King?" Disregard- 
ing every trace of national and patriotic hope, 
they responded, "We have no king but Caesar," 
and laying aside every impulse of Messianic hope, 
they shouted again and again, "If thou let this 
man go, thou art not Caesar's friend." 

Pilate no sooner heard these unfortunate words 
than his last hope of resistance gave way. And 
yet he determined to make one last effort to secure 
the liberty of Christ. He therefore selected the 
most guilty murderer in the prison and presented 
him before them, but they preferred the release 
of Barabbas and the execution of Christ. 

The dream of Claudia Procula, Pilate's wife, 
7 



98 Story of Christ's Passion 



by which he had been warned not to despise the 
humble dignity and lowly character of Christ, 
made a deep impression on the superstitious gov- 
ernor, but now every trace of hope was obliterated 
by this awe-inspiring cry, "Thou art not Caesar's 
friend." In the ears of such a ruler it seemed 
better to banish the warnings of a woman's dream 
and silence the pangs of conscience than lose t&e 
friendship of the Roman emperor. 

Pilate, however, desired to clear himself of 
all guilt, and in testimony of his innocence, he 
called for a bowl of water and washed his hands 
amid the wild shrieks of the tumultuous mob, 
"I am innocent of the blood of this just person; 
see ye to it." (Matt, xxvii, 24.) The chief priests 
felt the force of this last testimony to the spotless 
purity of Christ, and endeavored to conceal their 
embarrassment by fresh outbursts of impiety, 
"His blood be upon us and our children." And 
from that day until the present, upon them and 
their offspring, has been visited the wrath of 
Heaven, in the contempt with which they have 
been treated in every land and by every people. 

Having once yielded to their demands, Pilate 



Arrest and Trial of Jesus 99 

delivered Jesus unto them, who, with a band ol 
soldiers, led Him out of the city for crucifixion. 

But notice for one moment the revenge of his- 
tory. Their blood has indeed been upon them 
and their children. It fell most heavily upon those 
most nearly connected with the tragedy. Before 
the dread sacrifice was consummated, Judas died 
in the horrors of a loathsome suicide. The next 
year Caiaphas was deposed. Herod was exiled for 
his tyranny. Pilate, stripped of his procurator- 
ship on the very charges he had sought to avoid, 
"died in suicide and banishment, leaving behind 
him an execrated name." The house of Annas 
was destroyed by an infuriated mob, and his son 
dragged through the streets, and scourged and 
beaten to his palace of murder. Some of those 
who shared in and witnessed the scenes of that 
day — and thousands of their children — lived to 
experience the unparalleled horrors of that siege 
of Jerusalem by Titus, the most bloody and the 
most terrific of all history. They had shouted, 
"We have no king but Caesar," and God gave 
them into the hand of Caesar to be outraged and 
tyrannized, and pillaged and oppressed until their 
I Lot G. 



ioo Story of Christ's Passion 



stubborn natures broke in wild revolt against the 
Caesar they had claimed, "and a Caesar slaked in the 
blood of its best defenders the red ashes of their 
burned and desecrated temple. They had forced 
the Romans to crucify their Christ, and though 
they regarded this punishment with especial hor- 
ror, they and their children were themselves cru- 
cified in myriads by the Romans outside their own 
walls, till room was not wanting and wood failed, 
and the soldiers had to ransack a fertile inventive- 
ness of cruelty for fresh methods of inflicting 
this insulting form of death. They had given 
thirty pieces of silver for the Savior's blood, and 
they themselves were sold in thousands for yet 
smaller sums. They had chosen Barabbas in pref- 
erence to the Messiah, and for them there has been 
no Messiah more, while a murderer's dagger 
swayed the last councils of their dying nation- 
ality. They had accepted the guilt of blood, and 
the last pages of their history were glued together 
with the rivers of their blood, and that blood con- 
tinued to be shed in wanton cruelties from age 
to age." (Farrar.) 

It may seem to some that these are mere 



Arrest and Triai, of Jesus ioi 

changes of history, mere coincidences that do not 
speak to the race with the authority of the voice of 
God. But when we remember that "the Lord hath 
made all things for Himself ; yea, even the wicked 
for the day of evil/' there seems to be such a 
complete vindication of the Master's words and 
their own impious execrations, that we can not 
doubt that the destruction of the tree of Jewish 
nationality and the conversion of the Sacred City 
into an "ever-lengthening pavement of tombs and 
sepulchers," like one great potter's field, was 
nothing less than the visitation of Divine judg- 
ment upon that wicked and clannish people for 
the murder of their Lord. 

But however deep may have been the malice 
that led to the crucifixion of Christ, God has de- 
signed that the blood then shed shall be forever 
an atonement for the sins of men. And shall we 
not pray that the banished sons of Israel shall 
again come to Zion with songs of rejoicing and 
everlasting deliverance, and that the nations of 
earth shall join in the chorus of heaven, until all 
nations and all peoples shall rejoice in the bless- 
ings of God through Jesus Christ ? 



VI. 

THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST 

(Friday,, April 6, A. D. 30.) 

"Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, 
which was crucified" — Matt, xxviii, 5. 

The crucifixion is the last act of suffering in 
the redemptive toil of Jesus Christ. The week of 
suffering found its climax in this first Good Fri- 
day, when the cross was laid upon the bleeding 
shoulders of the Son of man, who bore it forth 
toward Calvary. 

As the procession moved slowly down the 
street, according to Jewish legend, the young and 
beautiful Veronica was moved with compassion 
toward the bending form of Christ, struggling 
with His burden, and, stepping to His side, wiped 
the bloody sweat from His brow. For this kindly 
service, the legend adds, Jesus left His image on 
the napkin. 

ice 



Crucifixion of Christ 103 

Another legend says that as Jesus passed tRe 
home of the Jew, Ahasuerus, he came out and 
with fiendish hatred kicked the Holy One of Israel 
until He tottered and fell beneath His cruel load. 
This occasioned the denunciation that he should 
wander a restless fugitive throughout the world, 
and "not die until the Lord should come again." 
Thus Ahasuerus became the "wandering Jew" 
of fiction, a fit type of that people who should 
wander homeless and alien among all nations, and 
be despised and outlawed by every people. 

When Jesus sank beneath His burden, His 
blood-thirsty attendants began to fear lest He 
should succumb from exhaustion before they 
reached the place of execution. And casting about 
to see one on whom they could lay the burden 
for the rest of the journey, their eyes rested upon 
Simon, born at Cyrene, in Africa, who may have 
shown some sympathy toward the sufferer, if, in- 
deed, he was not a secret disciple of Jesus. His 
two sons, Alexander and Rufus, were afterward 
designated as true Christians, so that it is possible 
that at this time the father entertained a deep 
friendship for Christ. They laid hands on this 



104 Story of Christ's Passion 

man and compelled him to bear the Master's 
cross. At first he objected to the task, but soon 
became reconciled and bore it cheerfully. 

What a strange contrast this journey pre- 
sents. At first, Jesus bears the cross for sinners ; 
then the sinner bears the cross for Christ. Was 
it not in fulfillment of those words, "And whoso- 
ever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, 
can not be My disciple?" (Luke xiv, 27.) And is 
it not true that the beginning of all Christian life 
is in our being constrained to take the burden of 
the cross from the innocent Savior and lay it on 
our own shoulders? We are compelled to pro- 
nounce judgment upon ourselves. "For the wrath 
of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 
godliness and unrighteousness of men." We 
tremble before the memory of our sins, guilty of 
the cross, since we feel that we are exposed to the 
curse which Christ endured upon it. 

It is evident that more than the hearts of the 
disciples were touched with a sense of sympathy 
for the suffering Savior. Tears of sorrow flow 
down the cheeks of the daughters of Jerusalem. 
They sympathized with Christ. Their emotion at 



Crucifixion of Christ 105 

the sight of His cross, and the conviction that an 
innocent man was being led to crucifixion, made 
their tears fall in the presence of His reviling 
adversaries. They attracted the Master's atten- 
tion, and, turning to them with that earnest so- 
licitude which He ever manifested over the lost 
sheep of the house of Israel, He said, "Daughters 
of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for 
yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, 
the days are coming, in the which they shall say, 
Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never 
bare, and the paps that never gave suck. Then 
shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on 
us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do 
these things in the green tree, what shall they 
do in the dry." (Luke xxiii, 28-31.) 

The most solemn of all days in Israel was, as 
we well know, the great day of atonement, the 
only day in the year on which the high priest 
entered into the most holy place of the temple. 
Before he approached that mysterious sanctuary, 
the law enjoined that he should divest himself 
of all costly garments, and clothe himself from 
head to foot in a plain white linen garment. He 



106 Story of Christ's Passion 

then took the vessel with the sacrificial blood in 
his hand, and, thrilling with sacred awe, drew 
back the veil, in order, humbly and devoutly, to 
approach the throne of grace, and sprinkle it with 
the atoning blood. He remained no longer in 
the sacred place than sufficed to perform his 
priestly office. He then came out to the people, 
and in Jehovah's name, announced grace and for- 
giveness to every penitent. This symbolical and 
highly significant act was now about to be realized 
in the immaculate Son of God. According to 
Divine intention He was concealed behind the 
thick veil of an increasing humiliation and agony 
that, bearing in His hands His own blood, He 
might make atonement for our sins. 

The procession passed the rocky sepulchers of 
the kings of Israel. The ancient monarchs slept 
in their cells, but as the Prince of Life passed that 
way, new life seemed to enter their withered 
bones. The procession entered the horrible vale 
of Gehenna, which once reeked with the blood of 
the sacrifices of Moloch, and arrived at the foot 
of that awful hill. 

Among the multitude are to be seen those who 



Crucifixion of Christ 107 



entertained some genuine sympathy for the Divine 
Sufferer. There was the deeply distressed and 
pious Salome, the mother of the two "sons of 
thunder." She desired that her sons be examples 
of such fidelity, and we know that James became 
one of the first martyrs at the hands of Herod 
Agrippa. Near Salome, walked Mary, a near 
relative of the blessed Virgin, who had the privi- 
lege of seeing her two sons, James the Less and 
Joses, received into the intimate friendship of 
Jesus. His mother, with tottering step and grief- 
worn face, leaned on the arm of the disciple whom 
Jesus loved. She experienced the fulfillment of 
Simeon's prophecy, "A sword shall pierce through 
thy own soul also." (Luke ii, 35.) 

It was only a few steps up that steep ascent 
until they reached the end of that dreadful pil- 
grimage, and stood on the summit of Mount Cal- 
vary — Golgotha — that momentous and awful spot, 
a naked and barren eminence, enriched only by 
the blood of criminals whose bones were left to 
bleach on the naked rocks, to be picked by the 
jackals and hyenas. It was the place of nameless 



io8 Story of Christ's Passion 



horrors, transformed that day into "the hill from 
whence cometh our help." 

Our hearts melt to tenderness when we see 
those four barbarous men lay hold of Christ, and, 
after having offered Him wine mingled with some 
powerful opiate, which wealthy women of Jerusa- 
lem had provided at their own expense to stupefy 
the pain of sufferers, irrespective of their sym- 
pathy with the individuals, they begin their horrid 
occupation by tearing the clothes from His body. 
Jesus, in His sublime heroism, and willing to en- 
dure all the pangs of death, refused the anaes- 
thetic, which was probabably taken freely by the 
two malefactors. There He stood, whose "gar- 
ment was once light, and the stars of heaven the 
fringe of His robe," covered only with the crim- 
son of His own blood, and crowned with those 
piercing thorns in mockery of His Kingship. 

Whether the Sufferer was also bound to the 
cross, or the weight of the body rested "upon 
nothing but four great wounds," we do not know. 
About the center of the cross there was usually a 
wooden projection which would aid in supporting 
a body. The cross was raised from the earth, 



Crucifixion of Christ 109 

and with it the Son of man, and as it sank into 
the hole with a sudden thug, it filled the body 
with indescribable agony. It is probable that at 
this point Christ uttered those first words in calm 
and compassionate mercy for His cruel and piti- 
less murderers: "Father forgive them, for they 
know not what they do." (Luke xxiii, 34.) 

Racked by the severest pain, intensified by 
every movement of the irritated flesh in hands 
and feet, and covered with every shame which 
men were wont to heap on the greatest of crim- 
inals, no sigh escaped His lips, no cry of agony, 
no bitter or faltering word; only a prayer for 
the forgiveness of His enemies. They had acted 
in their blindness, under the impulse of civil 
and religious fanaticism, and out of His own 
unbroken love for them He prayed that His 
Father would pardon and forgive. 

" Forgive them, O forgive, they cry, 
Nor let the ransomed sinner die." 

It was not until the cross had been lifted up 
that the Jews noticed the deadly insult in which 
Pilate had vented his indignation. They had 
thought to heap scorn upon Jesus, but now that 



no Story of Christ's Passion 



they see Him hang upon a cross loftier than 
those of the robbers, they saw the public contempt 
which Pilate had heaped upon them. The in- 
scription, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the 
Jews" (John xix, 19), was written in the official 
Latin, in the current Greek, and in the vernacular 
Aramaic, so that all might read in one of the three 
great languages of the ancient world this fitting 
tribute which unconsciously revealed the relation 
of the cross to every nation. Pilate had given 
this order partly because of a reverential pre- 
sentiment that this Man was indeed a God, and 
partly to give the hated Jews one more stinging 
blow. No sooner had they read the inscription 
than they hastened to the ill-humored governor 
whose passion was blended with seriousness, and 
angrily demanded that he change the writing, 
"Write not, the King of the Jews; but that He 
said, I am the King of the Jews." But Pilate 
briefly and resolutely replied, "What I have 
written, I have written." While he was delighted 
to avenge himself on his detested subjects by this 
act of public insolence, Pilate may have been more 
than half-convinced that in some sense, Jesus 



Crucifixion of Christ 



hi 



was indeed the King of the Jews, and as such the 
greatest, the noblest, and the truest of His race. 
There was something loftier in those eyes, some- 
thing more Divine than human in that matchless 
presence, that Pilate had never beheld before. 
Yes, He is a King, and Pilate is half persuaded 
to be His subject. 

In order to prevent the possibility of any 
person rescuing the bodies from the cross, a cen- 
turion, with a band of soldiers, was left on guard. 
To them belonged the garments of those whom 
they put to death. There was first a division 
of the clothing of Jesus into four parts — one to 
each of the four soldiers — of such articles as were 
nearly of the same value. The head gear, the 
outer cloaklike garment, the girdle, and the san- 
dals, would differ but little in cost. The question 
of which article each should have was decided 
by lot. 

Besides these four articles of dress, there was 
the seamless, woven inner garment, of spotless 
white, which in all probability had been presented 
to Jesus by Mary and Martha, or some of His 
devout followers. This could not be divided 



ii2 Story of Christ's Passion 



without destroying it, and so they contented 
themselves to let it belong to the one to whom 
it should fall by lot. They little knew how ac- 
curately they were fulfilling the Scripture, "They 
part my garments among them, and cast lots 
upon My vesture." (Psa. xxii, 18.) 

The great body of the people seem to have 
stood in silent awe before the majestic scene. 
Some of them, perhaps those who had borne 
false witness against Him on the preceding night, 
passing by the cross, mocked and reviled Jesus, 
taunting Him who had said He could destroy 
"this temple" and built it again in three days: 
"If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the 
cross." (Matt, xxvii, 40.) Likewise also the 
elders and chief priests and scribes, less compas- 
sionate than the common multitude, were not 
ashamed to disgrace their gray hairs with heart- 
less reproaches. "He saved others, Himself He 
can not save. If He be the King of Israel, let 
Him now come down from the cross, and we will 
believe in Him. He trusted in God ; let Him de- 
liver Him now, if He will have Him: for He 
said, I am the Son of God." (Matt, xxvii, 41-43.) 



Crucifixion of Christ 



113 



It would be no wonder if the rude soldiers took 
their part with these haughty dignitaries in mock- 
ing the Sinless One. They held their glasses of 
sour wine to His burning lips, uttering their 
taunts at such a King, whose only throne was 
a cross, and whose only crown was a crown of 
thorns. Even the poor wretches who hung on 
either side of Him reproached Him with their 
b\f.ter cursings and ingratitude. "If Thou be the 
Christ, save Thyself and us." (Luke xxiii, 39.) 
All of the acts of vile savagery and falsehood 
thrust themselves in hideous prominence before 
the Savior's last consciousness. 

After a time their unconstrained wrath was 
tinged by half-conscious dread. Even the priests 
seemed to fear lest He should call forth legions of 
angels and, coming down from the cross, execute 
judgment upon His enemies. Their guilty con- 
sciences smote them out of the gathering darkness 
of the sky. The earth began to tremble and in the 
gloom strange visitants haunted their guilty souls. 
The dying robber who had joined at first in the 
half-taunting, half-despairing appeal, now turned 
with glimmering faith and rebuked his compan- 
8 



ii4 Story of Christ's Passion 

ion's vileness. Then turning to the blessed 
Christ, who had been silent amid all their rail- 
ing, he said, "Lord, remember me when Thou 
comest into Thy kingdom/' (Luke xxiii, 42.) 
What a confession in the midst of such con- 
ditions ! God had illumined his darkened soul. 
"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto 
thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." 

With gloomy forebodings many of those who 
had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus fled when 
the darkness gathered round them. The strong 
departed, the weak maintained their ground. 
"For love is strong as death, the coals thereof are 
coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 
Many waters can not quench love, neither can the 
floods drown it." (Cant, viii, 6, 7.) 

The women were not troubled about the scorn 
and contempt heaped upon Christ. They loved 
Him, and feared not to hazard their lives for 
His sake. They desired nothing better from a 
world that crowned their King with a crown of 
thorns. Had they been nailed to the cross with 
Him, they would have pushed the world from 
beneath their feet as some worthless thing, and 



Crucifixion of Christ 



115 



triumphantly cast their anchor in the clouds. 
Earth had no charms for them since His blessed 
feet ceased to tread its thorny and thirsty soil. 

Among the beloved women beneath the cross 
there is one who specially demands our sympathy. 
Mary is stricken with a profound grief. Yet all 
through her night of suffering the words of her 
Divine Son gleamed like some distant star. 
Though distressing doubts arose, she could not 
give up all as lost, for God will not suffer her 
to be tempted beyond that she is able to bear. 
Jehovah will place His own hand between the 
burden and the burdened, alleviating and mitigat- 
ing the bitter anguish of the soul. 

At Mary's side, and serving as her support, 
is the Apostle John, that man whose consciousness 
was so sweetened with the love of Christ that it 
gilded his every thought, "the disciple whom 
Jesus loved." 

The little company stood mourning beneath 
the cross of the Sinless Sufferer. Mary seems to 
look up into that sublime countenance and won- 
der if those gracious lips will open again in bless- 
ing on this world. She would give her all for one 



n6 Story of Christ's Passion 



more look of recognition, one more word of part- 
ing counsel. It is a sublime situation. In the 
midst of His dying agonies He directed His eyes 
toward the little group of mourners and read 
their sympathy and tenderness of love, such as the 
world, till then, had never known. No matter 
how great His suffering, He could not forget His 
own. He fixed His eyes on His beloved and 
grief-stricken mother, whose thoughts were more 
of heaven than of earth, since she heard His 
words to the penitent malefactor, and answering 
her tearful look, in sublime tranquillity, referring 
to the disciple on whom she leaned, He said, 
"Woman, behold thy son;" and then to John, 
"Behold thy mother." (John xix, 25-27.) 

There is unending beauty in this legacy of 
love. The sweet tenderness of human affection 
is linked forever to the loving care of heavenly 
devotion. Mary will not know Him longer as 
her son, but as her Lord. The mystery was 
solved in her own bosom and her spirit did re- 
joice in God, her Savior. "From that hour," 
Mary made her home with the beloved disciple, 
doubtless in the city of Jerusalem, 



Crucifixion of Christ 117 



About the ninth hour the thick darkness which 
had intensified the misgivings of many for three 
long hours, was broken by some wondrous sound. 
"Some said it thundered; others, that an angel 
spoke to Him." No one knew exactly what had 
happened. His soul trembled at the unfathom- 
able agony which called forth the cry of "Eli, 
EH, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, 
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt, 
xxvii, 46.) It was darkness impenetrable, amid 
which faith alone can find a star, and believing, 
look up into the face of its crucified Redeemer. 

" Well might the sun in darkness hide, 
And shut his glories in, 
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died, 
For man, the creature's sin." 

— Isaac Watts, 

But Christ was not forsaken of God. It was 
the supreme moment of His unconditional, obe- 
dient self-sacrifice on the cross, when all the hor- 
ror and deathlike terrors of sin appalled Him, 
that this cry escaped His lips. He was essentially 
one with the Father. God could not forget His 
only begotten Son, no more than He would turn 



n8 Story of Christ's Passion 

a deaf ear to our suppliant cry. Nor was it the 
cry of distress. He saw the glory-beaming throne 
and, like the mighty Captain of our salvation that 
He is, He uttered the shout of eternal triumph. 
The sun again shone forth, and its gentle beams 
that had refused to rest on their dying Lord, 
clothed nature with a kindlier light. 

The Savior, with a clear consciousness, knew 
that His passion was drawing to a close. The cup 
of suffering would soon be emptied. His tri- 
umphant soul called out for the last dregs: "I 
thirst/' One of them that stood by, not under- 
standing His triumph, "ran, and took a sponge, 
and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, 
and gave Him to drink." He longed not for 
earthly water, but for the termination of His re- 
deeming toil, the completion of the great work 
of mediation. 

Then followed those great and momentous 
words: "Father, into Thy hands I commit My 
spirit." He then bowed His head, like one whose 
task is completed, and added, "It is finished." 



VII. 



THE THORN-CROWNED KING 

(Friday, Aprii, 6, A. D. 30.) 

"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of 
thorns, and the purple robe! 3 — John xix, 5. 

The: authorities of the Hebrew nation had 
expected the Messiah to come with great pomp 
and glory, and in some remarkable manner dis- 
perse the alien foe and reign with greater dignity 
than their hero-king, David. These ideas re- 
ceived their coloring from popular prejudice, 
which narrowed the Messianic hope to the pecul- 
iar ambitions of the chosen people who believed 
themselves to be the special favorites of Jehovah. 

These hopes were all dispelled when, about 
three o'clock in the afternoon, the last of the 
"seven words" had been spoken from the cross, 
the very hour at which the Israelites assem- 
bled in the sacred courts for the evening sac- 

119 



120 Story of Christ's Passion 

rifice. The priests had begun their customary 
duties, when, to the great astonishment of all, the 
thickly woven veil, which concealed the mercy- 
seat in the holy of holies, with the ark of the 
covenant and the cherubim, was rent from top 
to bottom, without the intervention of human 
hands, and the sacred depository which the high 
priest alone was permitted to approach, and that 
not without blood, suddenly stood exposed to 
the view of the bewildered worshipers. 

This seems to have occurred at the very mo- 
ment that Jesus expired upon the cross, accom- 
panied by the rending of rocks and other super- 
natural portents, which convinced many of the 
divinity of Jesus Christ. 

The centurion, who stood guard at the cross, 
could no longer be restrained, and with loud 
voice he declared, "Certainly this was a righteous 
man." His companions seemed to share the same 
sentiments, which prompted them to "glorify 
God." "Truly this was the Son of God." 

The scrupulous priests and scribes, anxious to 
clear themselves from the stains of blood, desired 
that the bodies be taken from their crosses, ac- 



Thorn-Crowned King 121 



cording to an ancient custom, and interred before 
the setting of the sun. They feared not to lay 
their hands on the Spotless One, but that His 
sinless body should taint their polluted band. 

With this end in view they sent a deputation 
to Pilate, desiring that the legs of the victims be 
broken in order to hasten death, and that the 
bodies be removed before the great feast of the 
Passover. Their request being granted, a band 
of soldiers went to the place of execution to per- 
form their act of mercy, and beginning with the 
malefactors, hastened the hour of death, but 
when they came to Jesus, His body was so evi- 
dently lifeless that they spared it this ignominy, 
though one of the soldiers pierced it with his 
lance. 

These incidents do not seem to have occa- 
sioned any surprise. They occurred in the nat- 
ural order of events, but in reality were the ful- 
fillment of that ancient prophecy concerning the 
paschal lamb, "a bone of Him shall not be 
broken" (Ex. xii, 46). And the evangelist ex- 
pressly declares that this significant act was in 
fulfillment of the Scriptures. As the paschal 



122 Story of Christ's Passion 

lamb, without spot and without blemish, prefig- 
ured the perfect character of the true Paschal 
Lamb, the Lamb of God, who offered Himself 
as an atonement to God, whole and undivided, 
in order that He might be a perfect and accepta- 
ble Redeemer, so He added this sign also that 
they might know that God "keepeth all His 
bones; not one of them is broken (Psa. xxxiv, 
20). 

In the wound of the lance the loving devo- 
tion of John saw another Scripture fulfilled 
(xix, 37) : "And they shall look upon Me whom 
they have pierced" (Zech. xii, 10). The pas- 
sage had long been a riddle to the Jews. They 
failed to grasp the minute detail of prophetic an- 
nouncement concerning the crucifixion of the 
Messiah, and so in the Septuagint, they trans- 
lated the original word meaning "pierced," "de- 
grade" or "despise." But since that day mil- 
lions of believing souls have found here one 
more prophetic evidence that Jesus was the 
Christ. 

The events at the cross had just closed when 
Joseph of Arimathea, one of the leading and 



Thorn-Crowned King 123 



most estimable citizens of Jerusalem, might have 
been seen hastening along the street to the pal- 
ace of the Roman governor with an important 
commission. He was a worthy son of Ephraim 
— a man "honored with the universal confidence 
of his tribe/' and a member of the highest Jew- 
ish court of justice — the Sanhedrin. Whether 
present or not at the prosecution of Christ, he 
had acquired a vital conviction not only of the 
innocency of the Accused, but that Jesus was 
indeed the Messiah. His timidity and "fear of 
the Jews," had prevented him from accomplish- 
ing anything earlier, but as the influence of his 
thought grew upon him, he hastened to protect 
that lifeless body from further insult. 

Having obtained the consent of the governor 
to provide, at his own expense, a decent burial 
for the body of Jesus, he determined to give it 
all the honor of a private burial in his own new 
rock-hewn sepulcher. 

When Joseph returned to the place of exe- 
cution, he beheld in Nicodemus a companion 
spirit, who stood mute and motionless beneath 



i24 Story of Christ's Passion 



the cross, turning his tearful eyes up into the 
face of the deceased Sufferer. He was the anx- 
ious Pharisee who had come to Jesus by night, 
desiring to learn the way of salvation. 

The two were companions in office, com- 
rades in fear, disciples in heart, and both had 
now thrown aside the fetters that bound them. 
They were confident that Jesus was their Lord. 
They no longer cared that the disciples have 
fled, that He no longer rebukes the wind and the 
waves, this is the Messiah, and they will do Him 
reverence. 

With what holy tenderness and emotion they 
place the ladders by the arms of the cross and 
reverently ascend to the Prince of Peace, feel- 
ing as though they were mounting the very 
rounds of the ladder to the throne of the Most 
High ! What a scene of loving devotion ! While 
viewing it, we join in the words of the poet's 
song: 

" Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, 
Which before the cross we spend, 
Life and health and peace possessing, 
From the sinner's dying Friend. 



Thorn-Crowned King 125 



Here we '11 sit forever viewing 
Mercy's streams in streams of Blood; 

Precious drops, our souls bedewing, 
Make and seal our peace with God." 

They perceive the loft) majesty that sat en- 
throned upon the pallid brow, that something 
like the dawn of a glorious morning hovered 
round those eyelids. They were deeply affected 
by the thought of what yet might transpire con- 
cerning Him. They gently draw the nails from 
His hands and feet, and having wrapped the 
precious corpse in linen, tenderly let it down 
from the cross. 

They can almost hear their hearts beat as 
they descend the hill with their precious bur- 
den. The funeral was without pomp, but sig- 
nificant for the tender and courageous compas- 
sion of the mourners. Their hearts were too 
full for sobs. They could only pay homage in 
an inextinguishable love and reverence, as they 
fulfilled the prophetic words of Isaiah, "And 
He made His grave with the wicked, and with 
the rich in His death; because He had done no 



126 Story of Christ's Passion 

violence, neither was any deceit found in His 
mouth." (Isa. liii, 9.) 

They reached the quiet plot of ground be- 
longing to Joseph, partly surrounded by rocks, 
just as the last rays of the sun were casting 
their beams upon it. In this peaceful seclusion, 
the Lord was placed in the tomb Joseph had 
hewn out of the solid rock for himself. 

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, 
and several other of the faithful women who 
had followed Jesus from Galilee, joined Joseph 
and Nicodemus, before they reached the spot, 
and more with their tears than with water 
washed the stains of blood from His face and 
breast, while the men filled the white linen, in 
which the body was to be wrapped, with myrrh, 
aloes, and other of the most costly spices. Then 
tenderly raising the body, they placed it in the 
sepulcher, and rolling a great stone before the 
door, returned to their homes to await the pass- 
ing of the Jewish Sabbath. 

The night that succeeded the events of this 
most momentous day was fraught with strange 
forebodings on the part of the enemies of Christ. 



Thorn-Crowned King 



127 



They remembered His words, "Destroy this 
temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 
They pretended to have no concern in such 
fanatical fancies, but deep down in their hearts 
they felt the pangs of guilt and the shame of 
hypocrisy. In the early morning they hasten to 
the tomb of Him who reigns in majesty from 
the grave. The high priests and Pharisees then 
go, in solemn procession, to the palace of the 
governor, in order to induce him to take meas- 
ures for securing the grave. 

Pilate was not a little surprised at the early 
visit, especially on that "great day of the feast/' 
of these notables of Israel, and listened to their 
request, "Sir, we remember that that Deceiver 
said, while He was yet alive, After three days 
I will rise again. Command therefore that the 
sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest 
His disciples come by night and steal Him away, 
and say unto the people, He is risen from tEe 
dead; so the last error shall be worse than the 
first." (Matt, xxvii, 62-64.) 

With what cunning these wicked men tried 
to conceal the real convictions of their hearts! 



i28 Story of Christ's Passion 



The night with its moments of reflection had 
driven the truth home. His mighty deeds, the 
terrible portents that accompanied His death, 
the smitten soul, all testified to them that they 
had spilled "innocent blood/' 

Pilate, who had taken part with them in 
their murderous designs, very willingly granted 
their request, and pointing to a band of soldiers 
in front of the palace, said, "Ye have a watch; 
go your way, make it as sure as ye can/' 

Pleased with their success, the deputation, to- 
gether with the Roman guard, repaired to 
Joseph's garden, and after having satisfied 
themselves that the body still lay in its place, 
they replaced the large stone to the mouth of 
the tomb, and affixed the Roman seal, so that 
the least jar of the stone would become visible. 

The work was complete. The guard was 
stationed at the door of the tomb. The struggle 
of life against death continued, but it only 
lacked twenty-four hours until the trumpet of 
Almighty God should sound, and Joseph's gar- 
den should present a different aspect. The seal 



Thorn-Crowned King 129 

shall be broken from the Savior's tomb, and the 
Prince of Life, crowned with glory and honor, 
shall rise triumphant over the grave. Then, 

" Lion of Judah, hail ! 
And let Thy name prevail 

From age to age ; 
Lord of the rolling years, 
Claim for Thine own the spheres, 
For Thou hast bought with tears 

Thy heritage." — Matthew Bridges. 



9 



VIII. 



THE RISEN CHRIST. 

(Sunday, April 8, A. D. 30.) 

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said" — 
Matt, xxviii, 6. 

The: resurrection of Christ was a surprise to 
both friend and foe. Nicodemus and the pious 
women thought to embalm his body against 
corruption. The women wept beside the empty 
tomb, thinking that the body had been removed. 
The perplexed disciples would not believe the 
first reports of the resurrection. "For as yet 
they knew not the Scriptures, that He must rise 
again from the dead." The members of the 
Sanhedrin took special precautions lest the 
body should be stolen, thereby giving the ap- 
pearance that His words had been fulfilled. It 
was not what the disciples expected, though they 
did expect that He would come again at the end 
of the world. 

130 



The Risen Christ 



As the women approached the tomb, on the 
first day of the week, they beheld the stone rolled 
away. Filled with alarm, Mary Magdalene, 
concluding that the body had been stolen, has- 
tened to tell Peter and John. The other Mary 
and Salome drew a little nearer, in order to 
make sure that the body was not there. Look- 
ing into the opened tomb, they were struck with 
awe at the presence of an angel, who pointed to 
the place where the body had rested, and di- 
rected them to "go quickly, and tell His disci- 
ples He is risen from the dead ; and, behold, He 
goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see 
Him; lo, I have told you." The women fled 
with mingled fear and joy, and hastened to report 
to the apostles the things they had seen and 
heard. They had hardly gone, when Peter and 
John came running, for they had received the 
word from Mary Magdalene, and stooping 
down entered the sepulcher. They found the 
body was not there, but saw the grave clothes 
lying folded up, and returned to their own home 
wondering what these things might mean. They 
thought like men, that the body had probably 



132 Story of Christ's Passion 



been removed to some other spot, but Mary 
could not be so easily satisfied. In longing anx- 
iety she stood weeping at the door of the sep- 
ulcher, and looking in saw not the Redeemer, 
but two angels, in bright apparel, the one where 
the head and the other where the feet of Jesus 
had rested. They were there to comfort the 
broken-hearted and give cheer to loving confi- 
dence that looked, but saw not, the object of its 
love. 

In human voice that disarmed her fears, the 
angel asked, "Woman, why weepest thou?" 

Strange as it may seem, there was no real 
cause for weeping, but through her tears, Mary 
said, "Because they have taken away My Lord, 
and I know not where they have laid Him." 

I. Turning from the tomb, to withdraw, a 
man in the simple dress of a laborer, asked, in the 
same words used by the angel, "Woman, why 
weepest thou ?" but added, "Whom seekest thou ?" 
It was natural that Mary should think this stran- 
ger the gardener, and without looking closely to 
see who it was, she said, "Sir, if thou have borne 
Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and 



The Risen Christ 



i33 



I will take Him away.' 5 If the gardener had re- 
moved Jesus from the tomb, because of the great 
expense of making a new one, she was resolved 
that He should have a suitable burial at her own 
expense. What a tribute to the strength and 
purity of her attachment to her Lord! What a 
thrill of rapture went through her soul when she 
heard the well-known voice, "Mary !" She would 
doubt no more, and, falling prostrate, exclaimed 
in the country dialect they both loved so well, 
"Rabboni !" which means, "My Teacher/' and 
would have clung to Him in uncontrollable emo- 
tion had not the words of Jesus restrained her: 
"Touch Me not ; for I am not yet ascended to My 
Father, and your Father, to My God and your 
God." (John xx, 17.) 

2. Meanwhile the other women, who had has- 
tened to take the disciples word, were met in the 
way by Jesus, who saluted them in the oft-re- 
peated phrase, "All hail !" and they knew by the 
accents and that matchless presence, that they 
were in the presence of their risen Lord. (Matt, 
xxviii, 9.) 

3. After the two Marys and Salome and Peter 



134 Story o£ Christ's Passion 

and John had departed from the tomb, Joanna, 
with a company of faithful women, not knowing 
what had taken place, came with their spices and 
ointments to assist in embalming the body of 
Jesus. They found the tomb open, and entering 
it, that the body had been removed. While they 
lingered in amazement and perplexity, they heard 
the voice of angels, saying, "Why seek ye the 
living among the dead? He is not here, but is 
risen." When Joanna returned and reported to 
the apostles, Peter seems to have again hastened 
to the tomb, and it is probably at this time that 
Christ "was seen of Cephas/' according to the dec- 
laration of Paul, (i Cor. xv, 5.) 

4. The same morning, the first day of the 
week, after the women had returned from the 
sepulcher, two of the disciples, one of them Cleo- 
pas or Alpheus, the father of James, and the other 
probably Luke, set out on foot to Emmaus, a vil- 
lage seven or eight miles west of Jerusalem. They 
had been in attendance at the Passover, and were 
now returning home with heavy and aching hearts ; 
their Lord, in whom they had trusted, and through 
whom they looked for the redemption of Israel, 



The Risen Christ 



135 



had been crucified. As they talked over the sad 
events of the feast, a traveler joined them, and 
entered into the conversation. He unfolded to 
them the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and 
showed that the very events that they lamented 
were necessary, and also that Christ must rise 
from the dead, in order to fulfill the Scriptures. 
All this time they did not recognize, but conversed 
with Him as they would with any other man. 
But when they reached the village, they "con- 
strained Him" to tarry with them, and He was 
made known "in the breaking of bread." This 
significant act opened their eyes, and they were as- 
tonished that their traveling companion was none 
other than the Lord. "And He vanished out of 
their sight." Their hearts were so filled with joy 
at this unexpected sight of Jesus that they im- 
mediately arose and returned to Jerusalem, where 
they found the disciples assembled, and were as- 
sured by them that Christ had indeed risen from 
the dead, and that the report of the women had 
been confirmed, for He "hath appeared unto Si- 
mon." Then the two disciples rehearsed what 
they had witnessed on the way to Emmaus, thus 



136 Story of Christ's Passion 

multiplying the evidence of His resurrection upon 
that first day of the week, until those who doubted 
were compelled to say, "The Lord is risen, in- 
deed." (Luke xxiv, 13-35.) 

5. There had already been six witnesses to the 
resurrection of Christ. The evidence became more 
strong and convicing with each new story of His 
appearance, and while they talked over these mar- 
velous things, wondering what they might mean, 
they were all surprised by the sudden appearance 
of Jesus in their midst, and He said unto them, 
"Peace be unto you." But the suddenness and un- 
expected manner of His appearance filled them 
with fear, for they had barred the doors lest they 
should be disturbed by the Jews, but Jesus calmed 
their fears, and presented unto them His hands 
and His feet as evidences of His undying love. 
"And while they yet believed not for joy, and won- 
dered, He said unto them, Have ye here any 
meat? And they gave Him a piece of broiled 
fish and of a honey-comb. And He took it, and 
did eat before them." (Luke xxiv 41-43.) And 
He further confirmed their faith by unfolding to 
them the Scriptures, and showed them that "Thus 



The: Risen Christ 137 



it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer 
and to rise from the dead the third day." 

A large number of disciples were evidently 
present on this occasion, though it is impossible 
to tell how many. Twelve are distinctly men- 
tioned; namely, ten apostles (for Thomas had 
gone out before the Savior appeared) and the two 
disciples who returned from Emmaus; and it is 
further intimated that the gathering was a general 
one of all the followers of Christ who were con- 
versant with the reports of His resurrection. And 
it is probable that the six, to whom He had pre- 
viously appeared, were now witnesses for the sec- 
ond time of the resurrection. 

6. Soon after the Savior's appearance, Thomas 
returned to the room where the disciples were 
gathered, and they told him that they had seen 
the Lord. He did not believe their report, how- 
ever, and said, "Except I shall see in His hands 
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the 
print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His 
side, I will not believe." This condition of un- 
belief remained for a week. On the return of 
the newly-instituted Sabbath, the eighth day after 



138 Story of Christ's Passion 

the resurrection, the eleven apostles, and probably 
other disciples, were again assembled together, 
Thomas being present with them ; and Jesus stood 
in the midst, and addressed them with the saluta- 
tion of peace. Then turning to Thomas, He re- 
proved his unbelief, and said to him, "Reach 
hither thy finger, and behold My hands ; and 
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side : 
and be not faithless, but believing." It was 
enough. The doubts that had lingered in his 
mind were quickly dispelled, and the glad heart 
of the apostle responded, "My Lord and my God." 

There is no further recorded conversation on 
this occasion than that which related to Thomas ; 
but it is probable that more was said and done, 
for John says, "Many other signs truly did Jesus 
in the presence of His disciples, which are not 
written in this book; but these are written, that 
ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God: and that believing ye might have life 
through His name." (John xx, 30, 31.) 

7. The Feast of the Passover being now ended, 
the eleven returned to Galilee, as the Savior had 
directed. This was their native home, and here 



The: Risen Christ 139 



they would be less exposed to the malice of the 
Jews, and could receive the instruction of Christ 
with greater calmness, and be the better prepared 
to enter upon that active ministry that they were 
so soon to begin at Jerusalem. Here also they 
could better support themselves and those depend- 
ent upon them, by returning to their native pur- 
suits. Simon Peter, Nathanael, James, John, and 
two others returned to their nets, but toiling all 
night they caught nothing. In the morning Jesus 
stood on the shore : and when the disciples did not 
recognize Him, He bade them cast their net on 
the other side of the ship, which being done, they 
drew in no less than one hundred and fifty-three 
great fishes. Then they knew that it was the 
Lord, and coming to Him, they found a fish pre- 
pared on the fire of coals, and bread. Jesus said 
to them, "Come and dine." They knew that it 
was Christ, but the greatness and majesty of His 
presence awed even the daring soul of Peter, 
who swam to the shore to make sure that it was 
the Master, into silence. But Jesus said unto him, 
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than 
these?" "Yea, Lord," answered Peter, "Thou 



140 Story of Christ's Passion 

knowest that I love Thee." "Feed My lambs," 
said Christ. It was as if Jesus had said, "If you 
love Me, show your love by caring for the ten- 
derest of My flock." Again the question was re- 
peated and the same reply, when Jesus added, 
"Feed My sheep." It was not only that the min- 
istry of Christ should be cared for, but they must 
nourish the flock of God. The treble repetition 
had something in it of tenderness and warning. 
It was not a reproof, though Peter had but a few 
days before denied the third time that he knew 
Jesus. "Lord," said he, "Thou knowest all 
things: Thou knowest that I love Thee." And 
Jesus repeated the words, "Feed My sheep." The 
oversight of the kingdom of God on earth was 
hereafter to be committed to the hands of men, 
of which Peter, in his weakness, and his brethren 
were fair samples. They knew not what awaited 
them, but whatever the future might hold in store, 
they were determined to be faithful to the flock of 
God. (John xxi, 1-17.) 

8. The next appearance of Jesus occurred on 
one of the mountains of Galilee, which He had 
designated previous to His crucifixion, and which 



The Risen Christ 



the angel of the resurrection announced to the 
women, and the Lord Himself had spoken of to 
Mary and Salome. It was a more public demon- 
stration than any previous appearance, there being 
assembled over five hundred persons, whom Paul, 
twenty years afterward declared to be still living 
witnesses of the resurrection. 

Before this assemblage Jesus declared Him- 
self, in the loftiest sense, the Messiah. "All 
power," said He, "is given unto Me in heaven 
and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fa- 
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you : and lo, I am with you al- 
way, even unto the end of the world." (Matt, 
xxviii, 16-20.) 

9. After this extraordinary appearance of 
Christ on the mountain to the multitude of the 
disciples, He seems to have appeared to James 
the Less, who afterward became bishop of Jeru- 
salem, though there are no special features of this 
appearance recorded. 

10. The apostles returned to Jerusalem after 



142 Story of Christ's Passion 

nearly forty days from the time of His resurrec- 
tion, according to the command of the Master. 
Here He renewed their commission to be the 
representatives of His kingdom among men, and 
gave them the promise of the speedy descent of 
the Holy Spirit, commanding them not to depart 
from Jerusalem till they should "be baptized with 
the Holy Ghost." Having completed His instruc- 
tions which seem to have been given near the spot 
where He had been betrayed by the kiss of Judas, 
He led them out toward Bethany, upon the Mount 
of Olives. As they walked, the disciples deter- 
mined to find out definitely if it was His plan "to 
restore again the kingdom to Israel." The illu- 
mination of the Spirit had not yet raised them 
above their narrow, national views, still retaining 
their Jewish ideas of the Messiah having come 
for the glory of an earthly kingdom. 

He wished, however, to leave them in such a 
way that they would not think that He had simply 
vanished out of their sight, that they might wait 
for His reappearance. He would show them, as 
far as it could be shown, that He returned from 
earth to His Father ; that God received Him unto 



The Risen Christ 143 



Himself as He had done Elijah. They would be 
the better able to tell men, when they asked where 
He was, that they had seen Him leave the world, 
and pass into the eternal kingdom, where "He 
ever liveth to make intercession for us." 

We do not know with what parting words they 
saw Him begin to rise. All that we know is that 
He gave them His blessing with uplifted hands. 
Step by step He raised their conceptions of His 
person and work. At first He had been to them 
the simple Teacher ; then He had revealed Himself 
as the Son of man, demonstrating His right to the 
claim by His mighty deeds and marvelous words ; 
and then, as the Son of God, veiled in human 
form ; and now, since the day of His resurrection, 
He has revealed Himself in the Divine majesty 
of His power, as the victor over death and the 
grave, who, by His own omnipotent arm is able 
to deliver all who put their trust in Him. 

"And when He had spoken these things, while 
they beheld, He was taken up: and a cloud re- 
ceived Him out of their sight." But long after the 
last trace of the dim outline of His form was seen, 
the disciples stood gazing upward, that they might 



144 Story oj? Christ's Passion 

get one more fond glimpse of their risen Lord, 
"And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven 
as He went up, behold, two men stood by them 
in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Gal- 
ilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this 
same Jesus which is taken up from you into 
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have 
seen Him go into heaven/' And they returned 
to Jerusalem, and there awaited in prayer and 
thanksgiving, the fulfillment of the promise of the 
Father. (Acts i, 1-14.) 

Thus do the witnesses to these great events re- 
late the story. It is explicit as to time, place, and 
circumstances. There was no possibility of their 
being deceived. They either report to us a his- 
torical fact or deliberately and intentionally re- 
port a falsehood, upon the basis of which they 
went forth to regenerate the world. It sent these 
rugged men back from the scene of such marvel- 
ous events, ready to suffer for the name of Him 
whom they had seen received up into heaven, and 
proclaim the resurrection and ascension of their 
exalted Savior to the multitudes of Jerusalem, 
declaring the glad tidings of gospel grace to the 



The Risen Christ 



H5 



world, confirming their testimony by bonds and 
imprisonments and martyrs' crowns. So sincere, 
so intense was their enthusiasm that three thou- 
sand souls bowed before the holy fervor of the 
apostles' words on a single day, and from genera- 
tion to generation the blessed story has continued 
its glorious triumph until nineteen centuries of re- 
demptive history mark the progress of the Re- 
deemer's name. 

In the ascension of Jesus we have the triumph 
of "God manifest in the flesh." Well may we 
say with Rousseau, that "if the gospel be not a 
real history, the inventor of the story was a more 
astonishing genius than the Hero of whom he 
wrote." The ascension is the final and conclusive 
proof of the Divinity of Christ and of His heav- 
enly origin. "Who is He that ascended into 
heaven but He that came down from heaven?" 
The gospel story is the Divine side of human his- 
tory; it is the God of the universe declaring in 
the triumph of His Son, the Divine origin of the 
race, predicting its eternal triumph and the glory 
of its redemption. It is God with us. It is the 

withdrawal of the visible and outward manifesta- 
10 



146 Story of Christ's Passion 

tion of the Divine kingdom, in order that it may 
be the more universally and powerfully diffused 
in the hearts and lives of men. 

The resurrection and ascension of Christ are 
the evidences of an immortal life for us. Our im- 
mortality is an assured reality in Him. "Because 
He rose we shall rise also." 

" The star that sets 
Beyond the western wave is not extinct ; 
It brightens in another hemisphere, 
And gilds another evening with its rays. 
O glorious hope of immortality ; 
At thought of thee the coffin and the tomb 
Affright no more, and e'en the monster death 
Loses his fearful form and seems a friend." 

The beauty of such a truth is so sublime that 
it lifts the conception of our Divine Master and 
Lord far above the weak and inadequate ideals 
of men. The Divine Christ of the Gospels and 
of the Church is no mere actor, though He were 
the greatest in the great tragedy of human his- 
tory. He belongs not exclusively or especially 
to the past. He is "the same yesterday, to-day, 
and forever." He is the Divine and Infallible 



The: Risen Christ 147 



Teacher, the Healer and Pardoner, the Source of 
all grace, the Conqueror of sin and the grave. 

" All things in Him grow sweet, 
All things are reconciled; 
All fierce extremes that beat 

Along time's shore grow mild, 
And creep like chidden waves to kiss His feet." 



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